


So What

by PinkLotus (EspurrsVena)



Category: JO1 (Japan Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Chaos, Fluff, M/M, RenKumi is the mainship, Yankee AU, no beta we die like real men, they are all nuts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-07
Updated: 2020-10-15
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:21:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 28,945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25131556
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EspurrsVena/pseuds/PinkLotus
Summary: JO1 highschool is known to be the last chance for boys like Ren who never fit into classical highschools. Everyone thinks they are deliquents, but all boys just want to go their own way.
Relationships: Kawanishi Takumi/Kawashiri Ren, Kimata Syoya/Tsurubo Shion, Ohira Shosei/Shiroiwa Ruki
Comments: 2
Kudos: 48





	1. New beginning

When Ren was forced to transfer schools, he hated it. He didn’t want to part from his friends (parting from his teachers was no problem, they were annoying anyway). But he had missed too many classes, his hairstyle was deemed unfit and he had talked back to his teachers far too often. If he wanted to finish school (something he wasn’t sure about), the JO1 Highschool was his only option. 

The school was known to be the last chance for all kind of troublemakers. People avoided coming close or enrolling voluntarily into it, yet for some reason a lot of their graduates ended up successful in the future.  
This duality caused that Ren had no idea what to expect on his first day. But even with no expectations, he was surprised anyway. 

The building was old but still looked nice besides plaster falling off the wall at some places. Ren had assumed to see lots of graffiti and maybe even a burning trash can, so his first impression was good. The teacher that showed him around, Naoto, seemed to be kind, too. But when they entered the classroom, it looked just like he imagined it. 

Instead of perfectly lined rows, the tables and the seats were scattered around the room. Some of his future classmates sat on the chairs, others on the tables and some were standing at the window. However, what confused Ren the most was that his classmates seemed to be of different ages. He guessed three of them could be in his age, one was surely older but the rest looked younger than him. 

“Everyone, could you at least sit down somewhere? I don’t care if it’s the floor.” Naoto seemed used to this picture. “We have a new student. Please pay attention for a least a minute. Ren, please introduce yourself.”  
Ren was made to go into the front and 10 students (that small size of his class also surprised him) starred at him. “My name is Kawashiri Ren. I’m from Fukuoka and your classmate from today on. I hope we will get along.” He took a look at his classmates and for some reason a guy with berry red hair fascinated him. Like all his new classmates he had some yankee aura, but at the same time there was something different about him. Ren had no idea what it was, but he wanted to know more about him. 

Ren expected the lessons to start after his introduction, but their teacher was as chaotic as his class seemed like. “Oh, I forgot the books. Sho, make sure that everyone stays in the room. I’ll be back soon.”  
With that their teacher left and a guy with a sleeveless shirt (that was allowed in that school?) which showed quite some muscles stood up. He had some scary aura like he was ready to punch someone and Ren took intuitively a step backwards.  
“I’m Yonashiro Sho and the class president. You look like you have some braincells, so I make you the vice class president.” 

“Hey, I thought that’s my job!”, screamed a guy with dark greenish hair.  
“You didn’t do anything recently. I trust the new one more than you.”  
“Eh... Thanks?” Ren had no idea what to think of that situation, but Sho still had a threatening aura, so he didn’t dare to refuse. “What do I have to do as a vice president?” 

“You have to do Sho’s job when he is too busy thirsting about our ice prince Ruki over there.”, said a boy who sat near the window while laughing and high-fiving the black haired guy next to him.  
Both Sho and the so-called ice prince only rolled with their eyes. “Just do what I or Naoto tell you.”  
“Okay.” Ren wanted to sit down near the berry red haired guy, but the now ex vice class president pulled him next to himself. 

Thanks to the small size of their class, Ren got to know his new classmates pretty fast.  
Their class president Sho was actually a nice guy, but he had this threatening aura for some reason which got him into trouble and into this school.  
Junki, his predecessor as vice president was actually a quite smart student, but that’s what made him lazy and barely attending class which earned him a place at JO1 high. Besides his loudness, Ren’s and his vibes got along, so Ren often ended up spending his breaks with him.  
Ice prince Ruki was from a rich family and used that people do stuff for him. His attempt to buy better grades at his previous school forced him to attend this school. Sho seemed to have a thing for him, but fitting to his image as an ice price, Ruki usually ignored Sho’s flirts. 

Then there were their so called S4. Technically, there were 5 people whose names started with a S, but Sho kept refusing to be added to that line-up because he “was older and had more brain cells than all of them combined” hence it was only S4.  
First, there was Shion who was always ready to fight everyone and their grandma for some reason.  
At his side was Syoya usually found. He seemed to be normal and a little shy when you first met him, but Syoya was actually quite the prankster.  
Next was Sukai. Just like Sho he had a threating aura and that he rarely talked it only added to his image. But for some reason he took a liking into Ren and stayed at his side. Ren felt like he had gained a bodyguard.  
The last S4 member was Shosei who seemed the only brain cell among those four. Shosei had lived in the US for a long time and had a hard time adjusting to the life back in Japan. Shosei also liked dancing, so in their free time Ren danced with him sometimes, forming an unofficial dance club.

Indeed, the age range in his class was quite strange. Their youngest Issei, who everyone just called Mame, was younger than the rest. He looked like a quiet kid, but actually he knew everything and wasn’t afraid to spill the tea just for the sake of watching people fight.  
Usually, close to Junki you would find Keigo. While he was a rich kid like Ruki, he was a prankster like Syoya.  
And there was the berry red hair guy called Takumi... Only Keigo was one of the few people he talked to, so Takumi stayed a mystery for Ren. He only figured out that Takumi liked hip hop music and baseball from his observations.  
Ren wanted to become closer to him, but for some reason all of his attempts failed. Takumi preferred to stay by himself or sometimes with Keigo. At other times, he just disappeared for a time before miraculously showing up at class again. 

“Don’t take it personally. He keeps us all at distance. I’ve heard it has something to do with his former school, but no one knows. Not even Keigo.” Because of their family names, that week both Ren and Shosei had to clean the classroom after classes.  
“I know. But it’s so frustrating.”  
“I understand you. I know how awful it is not being able to get closer to the person you like.”  
“I don’t even know if I like him. I barely know him.” Takumi had something fascinating about him and Ren’s heart always beat a little faster when he saw him, but he had no idea about him. Yet he didn’t want to think about it too much. “Who is the person you like?” 

“Ruki... but with Sho liking him, I have no chance.” Shosei truly looked pitiful in that moment. At the same time Shosei’s confession surprised Ren. Shosei had a warm aura, so unlike Ruki’s one. Opposites indeed attracted each other, he thought in that moment.  
“Our ice prince?”  
“He is not an ice prince. He is actually super sweet. He likes Disney and hamburgers and helps you if you ask him.” The blonde one blushed a little while talking. “But with Sho... He doesn’t let anyone near Ruki.” 

Ren had noticed that already. Ruki had a fan club in their school for his looks and soccer skills, yet once Sho appeared everyone ran away. The so-called ice prince seemed to be annoyed by it, too, yet he never said anything.  
“But Sho likes us. You should try it anyway.”  
“I’m scarred. He is so strong... I try to build up some muscles right now, but I dunno whether that’s enough to fight him.”  
Inside of his mind Ren tried to imagine a muscular Shosei, but the blonde one had such a cute baby face that it was impossible to imagine without laughing. “Don’t give up.” 

The next day, Ren didn’t feel like wanting to attend math class. A test was scheduled but because of a dance competition the weekend before he didn’t study at all. He decided to spend that lesson on the roof of their school. He had heard from the other students besides knowing that it was a popular gathering spot for students, the teachers never went there. Also, the weather was too nice to spend the time inside anyway. 

When he arrived at the roof, he saw Syoya and Shion sticking their heads together. At first, he thought they were planning some prank again, so he went closer, curious what they were planning. Yet what he saw slightly shocked him. They weren't planning anything, they were making out. (That confirmed once again that Ren should get himself some glasses or contact lenses soon but he hated both).

While he had noticed that both boys were close, he didn’t expect them to be THAT close. Ren knew that he should signal his arrival in some way but the sight had made him slightly speechless. “Eh...”  
They’ve heard him anyway, thus they stopped being glued to each other’s lips. Syoya was blushing a little, but Shion acted as tough as always. “Yo Ren. What are you doing here?”  
“I don’t want to write the test.” 

“There is a test?” Syoya looked more shocked about the test than about being caught.  
“Yes, in math.”  
“Shit. Why didn’t you tell me, Shion?”  
“I didn’t know that, too!”  
“I’ve missed too much tests already. I have to write that one.”  
“Shit. Me too.” Both boys looked panicky now.  
“Shoooooosei, we need you.” Faster than a dog running towards a sausage both of his classmates ran inside, screaming for the fellow S4 member and his notes. 

Meanwhile, Ren expected to be alone at the roof now. Yet when he passed the corner to look for a nice place to sit, he found Takumi. Finally, he had figured out the mystery where the red haired one always disappeared to. “Hi.”  
“Oh hey. Looks like you found your way up here now too?”  
“Yes, I don’t want to write the math test today.” Those were the most words he and Takumi exchanged so far and it made Ren feel delighted that he was finally able to talk to him.  
“Me too.” 

Usually, Takumi was wearing a headband to keep his long hair back, but for the first time Ren saw that the red haired one had actually his hair bradded to keep it back. It suited him. “So, you didn’t miss as much tests as Shion and Syoya?”  
“Yeah, those airheads always forget the tests so they missed three ones already.”  
That they were allowed to miss three tests was a new information for Ren. It made planning his school life surely easier. 

There was a silence between them, but Ren didn’t like it. They were properly talking for the first time, so he wanted to keep the talk going. “I didn’t know they were a couple.”  
“Mame told me. And then I saw them making out here.” Of course, Mamehara “I know everything” Issei knew about them. That kid seemed to have his ears and eyes everywhere. “I wonder why they hide. It’s not like we would judge them.”  
“True. Everyone here is... unique.” Back at his own school, the teachers would have called everyone a delinquent but here at JO1 High the teachers supported them in their ways while making sure that everyone kept up with their studies. There were no comments about his hairstyle and that he had cut his pants to make them look better.  
“I guess so.” 

Ren felt the conversation dying again, especially when he noticed that Takumi stuck an airpod into his ear again. “What are you listening to?”  
“Some Korean hip hop artist.”  
“Can I listen to it too?”  
“Sure.” 

To his surprise Ren knew the song. It was one of the songs from the dance competition he participated a few days ago. Thus, he couldn’t help but to start dancing to the music.  
Takumi looked at him with a slightly confused expression. “Why are you doing this?”  
“When I listen to good music, I can’t help but dance.” Takumi still looked perplexed. “I can teach you the choreography.”  
“I’ve never danced before.”  
“And? It’s easy.” Ren pulled up the other one and started to show him the first moves. 

Surprisingly, Takumi was a quick learner so by the end of the period he had mastered the chorus already. The red haired one also seemed happy about that.  
“You are amazing. You should join me and Shosei in dancing.”  
All of sudden, Takumi’s expression changed. “No thanks. I don’t think it’s a good idea.” 

At first, Ren thought Takumi didn’t like Shosei, so he asked the blonde one during their cleaning later that day.  
“No, we barely talked. But he prefers to stay for himself anyway. Maybe ask Keigo about that. He might know more.” 

Wanting to solve the mystery called Takumi, Ren indeed asked Keigo the next day.  
It was lunch break and Junki had asked him to try something he had cooked himself. The promise of lunch made by Junki had also attracted Keigo, so it was the perfect opportunity for Ren to find out more.  
“I don’t know much either. He doesn’t really talk about his past.”, the tallest one of their class said. “But it seems like something happened at his previous school which made him quit baseball and coming here.” 

Until this moment Ren had assumed Takumi was still playing baseball, because when he left the school after dancing with Shosei, he had seen Takumi practising alone sometimes. “Oh, I thought you were close. You are the only one who is often with him.”  
“He is the only one who laughs at my jokes. Not even Junkichi likes them.”  
“Because you are not funny. Takumi’s humour must be weird.” 

In the end Ren had more questions than answers about the red haired one, but there was no chance in finding out more. Sure, he could have asked Takumi himself, but he didn’t want to pressure him. If he hadn’t opened up to Keigo who he knew longer, there was no way that he would open to Ren who was still the new one. 

Eventually, Ren gave up to solve that mystery. He hated giving up but there was no way in finding out the truth. By chance he met Takumi a few more times on the roof and each time the other one had asked him to teach him how to dance again. They only talked about dance related things, but for some reason it was fine for Ren. As long as he could spend time with the mysterious red head, it was already a huge step forward. 

“I’ve heard you want to know more about Takumi.” One day instead of Takumi, he found Mame at their usual meeting spot.  
“So? And you know something?”  
“Yes, I do.”  
“Seriously, why do you know everything?”  
“Because I look like a cute shiba inu puppy, so everyone tells me their secrets.”  
The first time, Ren had seen Mame he was also reminded of a shiba inu, yet the smile of their youngest on that moment made him feel a chill. “Takumi too?”  
“No, he didn’t tell me anything, so I got curious and asked people from his former school.” 

In that moment Ren was sure that Mame wasn’t a shiba inu puppy. No, that kid was a wolf in sheep’s clothing. “So?”  
“Let me into your and Shosei’s dancing club and I’ll tell you.”  
Ren had expected that Mame wanted to take him his cleaning shift. The request was unexpected but no problem. Mame could just have asked normally and Ren would have agreed. “Sure.” 

Apparently, Takumi had been a pretty good baseball player at his former school. He had been the typical member of the baseball club which explained his yankee vibes until now. Everything seemed to go well until the day his teammates forced him to wear a pink sailor uniform and took pictures of him. The trust into his team was broken and when they continued to taunt him with the pictures Takumi just snapped one day and beat up his bullies. That incident had earned him a place at JO1 High. Wanting to start anew, Takumi had let his hair grew and dyed it red. Yet because of the trauma he distanced himself from other people. 

The story made sense to Ren and he felt sorry for the other one. He wanted to help him in regaining the trust into people, yet he had no idea how. Takumi didn’t want others to know his past, so he couldn’t bring it up. “Is that so?”  
“Yeah... Wanna see those pics?” 

Before Ren could decline the question, his self-declared bodyguard Sukai suddenly showed up. “Is he bothering you?”  
“No, I’m fine. Thanks.”  
“Class is starting soon. You two should come with me.” Sukai was another mystery to Ren. He had taken an instant liking into him for some reason even though they didn’t have much in common. Sukai didn’t seem like a bad guy besides his always slightly annoyed expression. 

During their next class, Naoto decided that they would do pair projects. Luck was both on Ren’s and Shosei’s side because Ren got paired with Takumi and Shosei with Ruki. Because of their uneven number Sho wanted to add himself to the Shosei and Ruki group, but Naoto thought he was better off helping Shion and Syoya because both of them were the weakest students of their class. 

“Naoto is truly the best teacher on this planet.” Even during their classroom cleaning after their lessons Shosei was on cloud nine.  
“Besides his scatterbrained moments, he is indeed a good teacher.” Ren was happy for his friend. The project was Shosei’s long awaited chance to get closer to Ruki. “Have you decided on a topic already?” 

The only guideline they had was that they had to pick a science-related topic, so all groups had been pretty free in choosing their topics. Takumi had shyly asked if they could do an astronomic topic to which Ren happily agreed.  
“Yes. We are doing an analysis of Disney songs.”  
“Of course.” He should have guessed the topic. Disney was the thing which connected the two. “Speaking of music. Mame wants to join our dance practises.”  
“He likes dancing? Sure.” 

Because the weather forecast announced rain for the next week, Ren and Takumi decided to meet up at school roof on Sunday evening. The night was the expected to be the last clear one, so if they wanted to make a chart of the stars visible from the area of their school, they had to sacrifice a part of their weekend. 

“Hey.” When Ren arrived, Takumi was already waiting at the roof. He was wearing a blue, white and red sweater which looked at least two sizes too big for him. It was the first time that Ren saw Takumi wearing something else than a modified version of their school uniform and while school Takumi looked cool, private Takumi looked... cute, like a squirrel. Ren had no better words to describe the person in front of him.  
“Hey, sorry for letting you wait.”  
“It’s alright.” 

When they got the borrowed equipment ready, a shooting star passed the sky.  
“You know... The night I arrived here, I saw a shooting star, too.”  
“That’s lucky. I think it’s first one I saw in my life.” At least Ren couldn’t remember that he ever saw one. They were as astonishing as people described them.  
“I don’t know why people love them so much. A shooting star signals the death of the comet, so why do people think it makes wishes come true?”  
“Because they are as beautiful as dreams?” 

Ren also had no explanation why people did that but it seemed to be the most logical idea to him.  
“No, the comet died just like my old life died back then.”  
“You mean your baseball career?”  
“How do you know?” With an flabbergasted and maybe even angered expression the red haired one looked at him.  
“Mame told me.”  
“This kid.” Takumi’s voice sounded pissed and Ren felt bad for his slip. 

“Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. Don’t be mad at him. You know kids... They are curious.” Ren had no idea why he defended Issei, but he did it anyway.  
“I should have expected that everyone will find out sooner or later. Guess those pics will haunt me my whole life.”  
“They shouldn’t have done that.” Ren never touched Takumi outside of correcting his stance while dancing, but he felt the urge to hug him anyway. To his surprise Takumi wrapped his arms around him, too. 

“No, they shouldn’t have... but they did it anyway.”  
“Why?” Takumi was shaking in his arms and Ren was afraid that he was crying, so he started to rub his back in circles like his mother did to comfort him when he was younger.  
“The coach wanted to make me the captain. First, they started to call me princess because they thought he was favouring me, but then they forced me to wear that pink sailor dress and put those pics on the internet. During the next match, the whole field was plastered with those pictures because the other team had found them...”  
“And you snapped?”  
“Yes, and it felt so fucking good. They destroyed my dream and I destroyed their bones.” 

It was hard to imagine that the soft crying boy in his arms could easily break the bones of other people, but then again, the hug was from him was a strong one.  
“It’s okay, Takumi. It’s the past now.”  
“But I don’t know what to do... I always wanted to become a pro, but with those pics it’s impossible.” 

Ren was never in the position that he had lost a dream. He always wanted to become a dancer and the free rules of his new school actually helped him in chasing that dream. But he remembered the words of his mother when his older brother had to give up his dream of becoming a soccer player due an injury. “Look at the stars. They are infinite, aren’t they? Life also has infinite possibilities, so you will find a new star to chase.”  
“But I don’t know which one I should choose.”  
“You are a good dancer. Do want to join Shosei’s, Mame’s and my dance group?” 

Takumi hesitated. “I don’t know...”  
Ren knew that it would be hard to make him join a team again. That his wounds hadn't healed yet was obvious. “Don’t worry. Mame knows your secret, but besides him and me no one knows it, so I’m sure he won’t tell anyone. Shosei is a nice guy, too. Lastly, we are already a good team, aren’t we?”  
“You are not wrong...”  
“Then it’s decided. You are our new member.” Sometimes you had to forced people out of their comfort zone and Ren was sure that Takumi wouldn't regret that later on.  
Indeed, Takumi smiled and nodded at him and Ren couldn’t help but smile, too. Takumi’s smile was one of the prettiest he had ever seen. 

“But let’s start our project. I’m cold.”  
Ren could also feel that the wind had gotten colder. “I can warm you if you want.”  
“Reeeen, no way.”  
“Why not? I think I like hugging you.” Ren had no idea when he had become that bold, but he really didn’t want to split for them red haired one.  
“It’s hard to write when you cling to me.”  
“You didn’t even try that.” 

Eventually, Takumi shifted and they found a way to hug and work on their project at the same time. Ren never felt that much at peace as during those moments and for some reason he knew that the guy in his arms felt the same. 

That night they mapped the sky above their school together. 11 stars were seen in the night sky and something inside of Ren told him that those 11 stars represented them and their classmates.


	2. Moving

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Syoya and Shion's relationship isn't as simple as it seems like on the first glance. Once more, Ren finds himself involved in the problems of other people.  
> Meanwhile, there is little progress in his mission to win Takumi's heart.

Even after spending some time at the JO1 High school, Ren’s classmates managed to surprise him anew every day. There was literally no quiet day and he had no idea how their homeroom teacher, Naoto, survived them without going crazy himself. Maybe he was crazy already and Ren hadn’t noticed it yet because he was too occupied in coping with the craziness of his classmates. 

The afternoons were usually spent with Shosei, Takumi and Issei. They got the permission from the school staff to form an official dance club and together with the permission they were allowed to use the gym for their training. While each of them liked a different genre of music, they managed to form a good team in a short time and started to prepare a show for the school festival later the year. 

Occasionally, they thought about inviting more people into the club, but they had no idea whether any of their classmates was into dancing. Or in Shosei’s case, he was just too shy to ask Ruki to join, yet at the same time he didn’t accept any help from the other members. Thus, his progress with the ice prince was pretty much non-existent. 

Speaking of non-existent progress, Ren felt like that he didn't have much progress with Takumi either. After the night at the school roof, Takumi joined the dance circle, yes, but he was still distant to the other members and even when he talked to Ren their talks were kind of superficial in Ren’s eyes. He still wanted to get closer to the red haired one, but it was hard. 

By chance, Junki and Keigo were supportive of his mission.  
“I think you are on a good way. You had more progress with him with him in a few weeks than I had in months.”, tried Keigo to cheer him up when Takumi hadn't joined their lunch once more.  
“I guess you are right.”  
“Take some more Tiramisu. It will cheer you up.” For some reason Junki had started to make Italian dishes every day recently. Ren didn’t mind at all because it meant free food for him and that dessert was so good that he even ate it besides the fact it was made with coffee. 

Their next lesson had a Kanji test and due to him being weak in this ascept of his mothertongue and still being allowed to miss another test, he made his way to the roof after lunch.  
Anew, he came across Syoya and Shion making out, yet this time only Shion went panickly inside when he told them about the test. Syoya stayed and for some reason he seemed heartbroken. “What’s wrong?” 

“Nothing.” However, Syoya’s face told a different story. He looked like he was close to crying.  
“Are you worried about failing? I’m sure Shosei will help you to cheat.”  
“No, it’s not the test. I can skip that one...”  
“So, what’s the matter? One minute you make out with your boyfriend and the next one you look like you are crying.”  
“Shion is not my boyfriend.” 

As often as Ren had seen them making out and sticking together, he had assumed that they were a couple. “But you? And him?”  
“No strings attached.”  
“But you like him?”  
As a reply Syoya nodded and Ren saw that tears started to roll down on his face. He couldn’t help but to pull the slightly shorter one into a hug. 

“He still clings to someone from his past.. I don’t know who they are, but I know I’m not good enough.”  
“That’s not true. You are good enough.” Repeatedly, Ren found himself involved with someone else's past. Originally, he didn’t want to deal with any of his classmate's backgrounds. Takumi’s one had been an exception at first, but now seeing Syoya like that made him want to help his classmate. Even when it meant that he had to dig into Shion’s past. 

Luckily, he knew someone who could give him some answers, so after their club meeting, he approached Issei. “Do you know anything about Shion’s past?”  
“Are you into him now? I thought you are more into the softer yankee type.” As innocent Issei looked, the kid had a sharp tongue.  
“No.”  
“Then why do you want to know?”  
“I want to help a friend.”  
“Syoya?” Of course, he also knew about them besides not being a roof regular.  
“Yes.” 

“What’s my reward?” And of course, Issei wanted something in exchange for the information again.  
“What do you want this time?”  
“I will be center for our school festival performance.”  
“We said we will decide together who will be center.” And as much as Ren wanted to get the position himself, he wanted to give his vote to Takumi. Besides having no experience Takumi’s skills were amazing. 

“If you vote for me, Shosei and Takumi will follow.”  
Ren wasn’t sure about that. Shosei might follow. The blonde haired one had become like a little brother to him and often followed his lead, hence he would follow his vote most likely, too. Meanwhile, Takumi was still a mystery. Ren wasn’t as confident as Issei that he also would follow his vote. Yet it was worth a try. For Syoya. “Okay. So, what’s Shion’s story? Was he also betrayed by a friend?” 

Eventually, Shion’s story was different and alike at the same time. While he was always troublemaker in someway or another, there was a time when the boy was actually a good student – thanks to his former boyfriend. He even won a scholarship to study in Korea for a few months, yet when he returned, his classmates had started to bully his boyfriend for a reason no one knew. Just like Takumi, Shion snapped one day, yet it earned him the transfer and the end of the relationship. 

“I see.” The story helped Ren to understand Shion more, yet he had no idea still how he could help Syoya. There had to be a way. 

By the next day, he hadn’t found a solution on his own yet. Because he was someone who hated not being able to solve riddles, his mind focused on nothing but that. At the same time, he regretted that he became involved in his classmate’s past once more. All he wanted was to graduate (and maybe win Takumi’s heart), yet once his mind fixated itself on something, he couldn’t rest until he solved the situation. 

“You look tired. Take this.” Suddenly, Takumi was right in front of him and placed a can of Cola on this table.  
“Th-thanks.” Ren could feel that the temperature of his face was raising due Takumi being that close. His heart also started to beat faster. The red haired one had an effect on him, Ren never felt before. Sure, he had crushes in the past, yet it was never that intense, his mind was never that messed up.  
“The caffeine will help you. I know you dislike coffee.”  
The blue haired also didn’t like cola much, yet because he got the can from Takumi, he drank it anyway.  
“You are quiet today. Want to tell me why?” 

Eventually, they went up to their spot on the school roof. Exceptionally, no one else was there, thus they could talk in peace.  
“It’s about Shion and Syoya.”  
“You became involved in someone else’s business again?”  
“I just want to help.” He really wanted to help. Besides knowing everyone only for a short time, all of them felt like brothers for him (with the exemption of Takumi, he still hadn’t fully figured out yet what the red haired one meant to him). In the eyes of the society they were all troublemakers, but in reality, each of them had their troubles and were actually good guys. “Syoya likes Shion, but Shion doesn’t want anything serious.” 

Takumi seemed to be as confused as him about the reality of their relationship. “What? I thought they were a couple. They are dumb and dumber.”  
“I thought Junki and Keigo were dumb and dumber.”  
“No, Junki is actually smart. Only Keigo is dumb.”  
“Okay true. So, the thing is...” 

Thus, Ren told Takumi everything he had heard from Issei and Syoya. “I feel sorry for him, so I want to help him.”  
“Makes sense. Guess Syoya needs to confirm to Shion that it will be different with him.”  
“But how? It’s obvious that it’s different. Syoya likes him besides him behaving like a stray chihuahua who is ready to fight everyone.” Honestly, Ren was surprised that he hadn’t fought with Shion yet. The boy even fought with Shosei besides the fellow S4 member being an angel and lending him his notes all the time. 

“Good luck in figuring out. I’m not messing with anyone’s personal business.”  
“And still you asked me what’s wrong with me today.” It felt like a win for Ren that Takumi seemed to be worried for him.  
“You were quieter than usually. Of course, I notice that.” For a short moment, Ren thought that he saw a slight blush on Takumi’s face, too before he turned his face away from him.  
“You are more observant than I thought.” 

Due to Takumi being always with himself, Ren expected him not to care about anyone’s business. He didn’t want to call him ignorant but simply not interested in other people. However, that day proved him wrong.  
“You learn how to read people when playing baseball. Figuring out the next move of the opponent can determine whether you win or lose.” 

For some reason, getting Takumi to know a little better made the struggle with the dumb half of S4 worth already. The times the red haired one opened up to him were rare and that he had gotten another opportunity made him excited. Especially because Takumi talked about baseball. It was still a taboo topic because he hadn’t fully moved on yet. It was alright for Ren, yet at the same time every crumb he got made him excited. Thus, he wanted Takumi to help him with that project. “Okay, mister people reader. Tell me your suggestion.” 

“Reeeeen, I’ve told you that you have to do it on your own.”  
“But I want to know your opinion.” And to work with you on this problem, he added in his mind. It was an unexpected bonding moment, but he was ready to take it.  
“Okay. We figured out already that Syoya needs to prove to him that he won’t abandon Shion for being Shion, didn’t we? He needs to make this declaration as big as possible, so that even someone as dumb as Shion will understand it.” 

Indeed, it sounded like a plan, but Ren had no idea how to make a declaration big. He never confessed to anyone in his life and he doubted that Syoya had, because the black haired one was younger than him. Still, that day he managed to catch Syoya after class.  
“I see. Maybe I should have asked Mame, too, but I wanted to hear it from himself.”  
Ren knew that feeling well. He would have preferred to hear Takumi’s story from himself, too, yet sometimes you had to take such measures. “So, do you plan to make a confession?”  
“No. I decided to give him up.” 

That was unexpected. Ren had thought that this new information would help Syoya in his fight for Shion. “Why?”  
“No matter what I’ve done, it didn’t help him to move on. I guess I’m not the right one for him.”  
The older one wanted to object, but he couldn’t help but think that Syoya might be right, too. Maybe it was the better solution for everyone. 

Besides not being an official couple, the whole class was able to observe the results of Shion's and Syoya’s breakup the next day. Syoya swapped his seat with Sukai and seemed to be happier than during the previous days. Meanwhile, Shion was more confrontational than normally. He kept talking back to their teachers and even threated to start a fight with Sho. Luckily, their class president only needed to flex his biceps and Shion became quiet. Still, the result was that Sho announced a class conference for the afternoon during which he wanted to discuss the happenings of the day. 

As the consequence of being announced has the vice president on his first day, Ren was forced to attend that conference. It was just him, Sho and their homeroom teacher anyway, but at least Naoto was so kind and ordered some pizza for them.  
“Anyone knows what’s wrong with Tsurubo? He hasn’t been like that since his arrival.”  
On the one hand, Ren wanted to say something, but on the other oned he didn’t want to be blamed for the recent development, thus he stayed quiet and munched his pizza.  
“I guess it has something to do with Syoya. Maybe they had a fight?”  
“I don’t think so. Kimata seemed to be in a good mood today.” 

Quickly, both looked at him. “Do you know anything?”  
Ren wanted to act clueless, but he could feel both pair of eyes starring right into his soul. “Eh... Maybe?”  
“What happened?”  
“They broke up.”  
That news surprised both the teacher and the class president who looked at him like he told them that he had a third eye under his bangs.  
“So, they had a fight?”  
“Not really. More like different expectations of their relationship?” That was the smartest way to describe their relationship without revealing too many details in Ren’s opinion. 

“Any suggestions how to deal with Tsurubo now? To be honest, I haven’t found a way to calm him down back then, it was thanks to Kimata and I rather have another prankster in this class than someone who wants to fight all the time.” Naoto seemed to be distressed, yet Ren had no idea how to help his teacher. Syoya seemed to be the Shion whisperer in some way.  
“He respects me, so I will take care of him.” Luckily, there was Sho. The situation earlier had proved that Shion wasn’t willing to fight Sho (or rather his muscles). 

With the Shion problem solved for now, Ren wanted to go home, yet before he arrived at the dorm, he came across a lost looking Syoya. “Hey what’s up?”  
“Oh hey, Ren. Do you have time?”  
Technically, there was homework waiting for him, yet he wasn’t in the mood for those anyway. “Sure.”  
Ren expected that Syoya wanted to talk with him about his problems again, yet his classmate wanted to go with him to the city. But instead of shopping or karaoke, Syoya went straight to a game center. It seemed like the black haired one needed some distraction. 

“So, which one do you want to try first?” As a gamer Ren had a hard time choosing which game should be his first one. They actual games looked fun and the crane games had a lot of cute plushies. Besides his yankee image Ren actually loved plushies and even shared his bed with a Ditto one (but he prayed that no one from his class would discover his secret).  
“Let’s play the motorcycle game.” Unfortunately, Syoya picked the only kind of game, Ren wasn’t good in. He preferred something that tested his mind or finger skills, yet for Syoya’s sake he agreed. As expected, the game resulted in a crushing defeat for him, but at least it made his friend smile. 

Ren was next to pick a game and this time he wanted to make sure to win, thus he chose a dancing game. To his surprise, Syoya was a quite good dancer, too, yet in the end the blue haired one managed to snatch the win. “I didn’t know you also dance.”  
“I used to make dance covers with some friends from my former school. But I stopped after the transfer.” 

Once more Syoya seemed a little down and at least for this problem Ren knew a solution. “Wanna join the dance club? We are four members so far.”  
“Eh? Since when has our school a dance club?”  
“Since I’ve founded one. Shosei, Mame and Takumi are also part of it. We plan to have our first show during the school festival.”  
“Count me in.” Thus, his club gained its 5th member. 

For the rest of the afternoon, Ren and Syoya tried all kind of games and thanks to their combined skills, they managed to collect so many prizes that all other visitors became jealous. They didn’t even notice how they both spend most of their monthly budget in the meantime. They only decided to stop when they noticed that carrying everything back to the dorm might become difficult.  
“Let’s take pics as a commemoration for today.” Syoya suggested before leaving.  
“How about some purikura?” It’s been awhile since Ren had taken some and he still had some coins left. 

Eventually, they took some purikuras with their wins and while they waited for the machine to print those, they wondered to whom of their classmates they could sell some of the plushies to.  
“You dumped me for the new one?!” Suddenly, they heard Shion shouting and before Ren could react the S4 member threw him on the ground. “Who do you think you are?” 

The blue haired one was sure that Shion’s fist would collide with his face next, but Syoya managed to catch their classmate's arm in time. “Stop it, Shion!”  
“Stop defending your new boyfriend. He deserves that!”  
“He is not my boyfriend.”  
“Tell that your grandma. That’s obviously a date you two have right now.”  
“That’s not a date.” Finally, Ren could push the taller one from him. “Why do you even care? Syoya told me you two weren’t anything serious anyway.” 

“That’s-” Shion wanted to argue, but he knew that it was pointless in the moment. He saw that the blue haired one was right and he hated that.  
“Shion, we were just friends having fun. That’s not a date. Syoya isn’t even my type.” His type was called Takumi and he prayed that Takumi wouldn’t misunderstand any of the events from that day later on.  
“But-”  
“No buts. Syoya seemed to be lonely and sad, so I tagged along. And now talk, you two idiots.” 

On the one hand, Ren wanted to leave them alone to give them some privacy, but on the other hand, he didn’t trust Shion’s temperament at all. Also, he couldn’t believe that he turned into the voice of reason recently. His friends from his old school would surely laugh about that development. He used to be known that he only wanted to have fun in life.

“Why are you so angry? You didn’t want anything serious.” Because he had taken off his hairband for the pictures earlier, Syoya’s bangs covered half of his face, yet Ren could see his timid expression anyway. The S4 member seemed to be confused and it was undeniable that he had still feelings for the other one.  
“Yeah I’ve said that... But well, I guess it was more serious than I thought.” Swiftly, Shion’s mood had changed and he had turned from an aggressive chihuahua into a shy teenager. Ren was truly impressed by Syoya’s power regarding Shion. “I hoped that if it’s not something serious, it wouldn’t hurt when you leave me too once you discover who I am.” 

“But I like you for who you are.”  
“Yet you left me.”  
“Because I couldn’t bear the thought that I was just a stupid replacement for that guy from your former school.”  
“You were never a replacement. You two don’t even look alike, you look much more handsome.” Finally, the two boys embraced each other and Ren took it as a sign it was time to leave for him. He really didn’t want to watch them make out again. They were in their own world nevertheless, so he took his wins and made his way back to the dorm. 

Back in his room, Ren had no idea where to put everything. His room was small and the plushies looked bigger in that small room than they did in the wide arcade. Not only for the sake of his budget, he had to get rid of some. The biggest one among them was a Kirby plushie and for some reason it reminded him of Takumi. He knew that Takumi was living in the same building, yet Ren never had been to his room and somehow or other he knew that the red haired one didn’t like visitors much. However, they hadn’t exchanged their contacts yet, hence he had to ask the other one in person whether he wanted to have that plushie. 

Luckily, in the front of each door, the name of the occupant was written and after some time Ren found Takumi’s room. Anyhow, he was nervous when he knocked on his classmate’s door and his heart only beat faster when he heard him unlocking the door. 

“Ren? What are you doing here?” Takumi sounded a little sleepy and he was wearing pyjamas already. Once more, the word cute echoed in Ren’s mind. Sadly, his cuteness didn’t help to calm him, it had rather the opposite effect.  
“I-I got this today and it reminded me of you.” He literally pushed the plushie into the other one’s hands. 

For a moment, Takumi looked confused but then he showed the sweetest smile Ren ever saw (or maybe that was due to Ren being whipped for his classmate). “How did you know that I like Kirby?”  
Ren didn’t know it, yet the moment felt like a win, in this way he didn’t want to admit this. “I’m a magician.” He tried to sound as confident as possible while saying this.  
“Reeeen.”  
The blue haired one loved when Takumi called his name in a slightly annoyed way. It always sounded cute. “Yes?”  
“Stop it.” 

“I’m really a magician.” Indeed, Ren knew a few magic tricks and he prayed that he wouldn’t mess it up in that moment. He still had a coin his pocket and showed one of his tricks with it. “See?”  
To his surprise, Takumi seemed to be impressed by that and Ren saw a slight blush on his face. “Is there something you can’t do?”  
“Passing Kanji tests.”  
“Keigo and Shion placed worse than you.”  
“Still, I didn’t pass, too.” 

There were always those push and pull moments between them. While it often seemed like nothing changed in the first moment, Ren could feel that each of those moments pulled him a little closer towards the other one. The road was still long, but he managed to take some steps forward.  
Speaking of stepping forward, Ren wondered whether he should try to enter Takumi’s room. He was still standing in the hallway while the other one was standing in the doorframe. “Can I come in? Standing here and talking is a bit stupid, isn’t it?” 

“No.” It was a simple no, but the most crushing one in Ren’s life. Takumi’s smirk didn’t make it any better thereupon. “Thank you for Kirby. I will take good care of him.”  
Ren was about to give up for this day, but in that moment, he felt Takumi’s lips on his cheek. However, when he wanted to react, the red haired one had disappeared into his room and closed the door. 

Only when he was about to return to his room, Ren realised that he had forgotten to ask Takumi for money for the plushie. Though, he had gotten a kiss from the other one, hence it was kind of a win. Still, he needed food for the rest of the month. Junki’s cooking experiments had been good so far, so his lunch might be safe and he could go without a breakfast, yet he needed to find a solution for dinner. 

The angel in disguise in that situation was their class angel Shosei once again. When he heard that Ren had won a huge pompom purin plushie, he offered to trade it against a weekly ration of instant ramen. 

On the next day, Syoya and Shion were sticking together again and both Sho and their teachers looked revealed by that development. To Ren’s surprise, Shion even apologised to him, yet he suspected that Syoya made him do it because the other one added that he wanted to join the dance club, too, because he “wanted to keep an eye on Ren”.  
The blue haired one didn’t mind. Their class was chaotic but fun and their different colours would make the future performance surely interesting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone!  
> I somehow managed to write a 2nd chapter. Guess that story deserve the subtitle "Ren collects people for his dance club" now haha  
> Next chapter will most likely focus on RukiSei but we never know what my mind wants to write.  
> Also, I have no idea when the new chapter will be released because I won't be home next week (& I hate writing on my phone)  
> So either see ya until Keigo's Bday AU or the next chapter!


	3. Fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After his younger brother was found gravly injured, Ren has to deal with his own past, too. Luckily, he's not alone in that moment.

JO1 Highschool was seen as the last chance for delinquent teenagers. You would expect it to be a strict school, yet in reality the school offered freedom to those kids. Instead of being caught in a tight net of rules, each student was given the opportunity to find their own way. Naturally, academic achievements were expected, too, yet their teachers defined those in a different way compared to their colleagues from public schools. Ren’s homeroom teacher, Naoto, for example thought it to be a success when the whole class attended and passed a test. 

Speaking of Ren, besides initially being opposed to his transfer to the school, he was glad now. His class was a bunch of misfits, yet there wasn’t a day that was not exciting. Furthermore, he was happy that he was able to continue dancing thanks to the dance club he had formed with some of his classmates. Shosei, Issei, Syoya, Shion and Takumi were quite good dancers, too, and Ren loved to work with them on new choreographies. Sometimes Ren couldn’t believe that unlike the other members Takumi had never danced before. 

Indeed, Takumi was still a huge mystery for Ren. The red haired one slowly began to warm up to the other classmates, especially Junki, Keigo and him, yet there were still so many things he didn’t know about him. Among those things was what Takumi thought about him.  
Takumi had kissed him on the cheek after Ren gave the Kirby plushie to him, yet the next day the former baseball player acted like nothing happened. Sometimes Ren wondered whether he had just dreamed that moment. 

However, Ren also know that Takumi was afraid to let people close to him. After what happened at his former school, with his former team, it was a natural reaction to distance oneself. Broken trust isn’t easily repaired, yet Ren was determined to help the red haired one to heal. His heart had decided to fall for the mysterious boy and there was the hope that the feeling was mutual. 

Takumi wasn’t the only one with a past with broken trusts and trouble, each one of them had a similar story. Ren might not have discovered each story – and he wasn’t even sure whether he wanted to deal with another one – but they weren’t as bad people as the society thought of them. 

Moreover, dealing with his classmates’ past made Ren wonder about his own. Sure, he was the “no thoughts head dancing”-guy, but there was more about him, too. Something more he wasn’t sure whether he was ready to deal with. Something that was far away from JO1 High, yet just like the pasts from his classmates could come for at any time. 

Still, for now everything seemed to go along smoothly for Ren. His class was rather peaceful that day because everyone was panicked about the chemistry test later. Well, not everyone was panicking, everyone but Ren and the brain of their class, Junki, was panicking. Like most of the time no one had studied, but luckily chemistry was a subject Ren didn’t need to study and Junki aced any subject for some reason. 

Thus, Ren was one of the first students to finish the test which gave him the opportunity to watch his classmates struggling. Junki was done shortly after him and tried to let Keigo take a look on his answers, yet the tall one’s eyesight wasn’t the best and/or he was just too stupid to read the sheet without raising any suspicions.  
S4 were secretly passing notes around, hoping that the combined power of their shared braincell could save them, but speaking from the panicked looks on Syoya’s face it didn’t go well for them.  
Their class leader Sho seemed to be done with the test already too and tried to help Ruki, yet he was met with ignorance once more – only for Issei who sat close to them to take the chance and copy their leader’s answers as fast as he could.  
Last but not least, there was Takumi. Ren could watch him all day, yet it was obvious that he was struggling. There wasn’t much written on his paper yet. 

“Shhh, Takumi. Take a look.” As quiet as possible Ren tried to catch the attention of his crush. He wanted to help him. “Takumi~”  
“Not now.” Sadly, Takumi was tried too hard to solve everything on his own.  
“I want to help you. Look.” As inconspicuous as possible, Ren moved his test sheet sideways, so that Takumi could get a better view of his answers. 

But the red haired one’s eyes stayed on his own paper and soon their teacher announced the end of the test. Ren was tasked with collecting all sheets and when he saw Takumi’s one, he knew on the spot that his crush flunked the test. Ren had to act fast if he wanted to help him.  
He dropped the sheets and when he picked them up, he announced “Oh I forgot to write my name on the paper”.  
Their teacher seemed to believe what he said, thus as fast as he could he changed the names on two test sheets. Kawanishi became Kawashiri and vice versa. 

Thanks to being a small class, the test was graded by the next day. “Kawashiri-kun, I’m shocked. Usually you are one of the best students in his class.”, their teacher said when he returned the tests.  
“I guess I had blackout yesterday.” Actually, it seemed like Takumi had the blackout the day before. Only a few questions were answered and only half of those answer were correct, thus making him fail the test.  
The original owner of the sheet meanwhile starred in disbelieve at the one on his table. 

“Ren, why did you do that?” After the lesson Takumi had dragged him to their secret meeting spot on the roof. At first, the blue haired one had assumed that his crush wanted to thank him, but now he wasn't sure about that anymore.  
“I wanted to help you.” Was Takumi angry? Was he happy? Normally, Ren was quite good at reading people, yet Takumi was one of the few people who were hard to read. However, that was one of the reasons why Ren became so fascinated of him. 

“But you failed that test because of me.” No, it was disappointment in Takumi’s voice which made Ren wonder why.  
“So? My chemistry grades are good, so one failed test doesn’t matter.”  
“You didn’t have to do that for me.”  
“But I wanted to.” 

To Ren’s surprise, Takumi hugged him suddenly. “Thank you.”  
“You’re welcome.” The blue haired one also wrapped his arms around the other one and for a moment time stopped passing. They hadn’t been that close – and alone – since the night of their astronomy project and it felt so good to have Takumi in his arms once again.  
Despite knowing that the boy in his arms had quite the muscles, he felt so fragile in this moment. It made Ren want to protect him. He never wanted him to be broken again. He wanted him to regain trust in people. He wanted him to become happy again. 

However, their moment together didn’t last as long as Ren wanted it to be. All of sudden, Sho appeared. “There you are, Ren. Naoto looks for you. It seems to be something urgent.”  
The dancer had no idea what it could be, hence he broke the hug and followed the class leader to their teacher. 

“There you are, Kawashiri-kun. We got a message from your family. Your youngest brother had an accident.”, informed the teacher him.  
Once more, the time stopped for Ren, this time it was due the shock. He didn’t even realise that he dropped on his knees until two strong arms caught him. At first, he assumed it was Sho, yet it was Takumi who had followed them. 

News like that were Ren’s biggest fear after his transfer. As the second oldest one in his family he had the duty to protect the younger ones, too. The worst scenarios were playing in his mind in that moment. He didn’t even want to think about the actual worst one. “What happened?”  
“No one knows. He was found after falling from a roof.”  
“Is he-?” It seemed like his biggest fear had come true. Tears streamed from his eyes and only Takumi’s strong arms around him, kept him somehow standing. 

“He is alive, but has grave injuries.” While those were good news in some way, Ren didn’t feel any better.  
“Can I visit him?” Normally, students were only allowed to return home during the holidays, but he needed to see his brother.  
“Of course. You can leave as soon as you are ready.” 

Ren doubted he would be ever ready to see his youngest brother injured, but he wanted to go to visit him as fast as he could. He had barely the strength to stand on his own when he tried to part from Takumi, yet the red haired one didn’t let him go.  
“Takumi, it’s okay...”  
“No, I’m coming with you.”  
“Is that even possible?” As much as the offer meant to him, Ren doubted it was possible for the other one to come with him. 

“I wanted to send Yonashiro-kun with you, but if Kawanishi-kun offers to go with you, it should be okay, too.”, agreed their teacher to everyone’s surprise. “I’ll bring you to the station, so that you can take the next train home.”  
While Ren wouldn’t have minded Sho’s calm presence, he was gladder that Takumi could come with him.  
The whole drive to the station Takumi’s hand didn’t let go of his own one and it helped Ren to keep his composure and not to break out in tears. 

Once they were in the train heading to Ren’s hometown Fukuoka, it was a different story. The closer they got, the harder it became not to cry. He had a hunch why the accident happened and he couldn’t help but feel guilty for it. There was no reason for his brother to fall or jump from a roof. He was a happy kid.  
“It’s okay. You can cry.” Takumi pulled him closer once more and began to comfort him.  
“I need to stay strong... He is my younger brother.” Yet Ren still fought against his tears. 

“But he is not here. You can cry.” Takumi was right, but crying always had been something difficult for him. Where he had grown up, crying was out of question. It was considered as weak and you weren’t allowed to be seen as weak.  
Still, Takumi’s arms around him and his kind words made it easy to let down the barrier. He felt save enough to let tears escape his eyes. Also, maybe it was better to let them flow now, so that he could put a brave face once they reached Fukuoka, Ren thought. 

Letting go of some tears made Ren feel indeed a little better by the time they reached the station of his hometown. Unfortunately, it was evening already, so they had to wait for the next day until he could visit his brother.  
As expected, his mother wasn’t able to pick him up. Due the accident, she had been forced to switch her shift to a night one, yet Ren’s oldest brother was waiting for them at the station. 

“Ren-chan!”, the called one couldn’t help but cringe at the nickname. “I’m so glad that you came. And who is that?”  
“I’m Kawanishi Takumi, Ren’s classmate.”  
“Thank you for coming with him. I’m Kou, the oldest one of the Kawashiri brothers.”  
During the drive to Ren’s home Kou did his best to lift the mood a little, yet Ren could see how shaken his brother was, too. 

Also, Ren felt nervous to bring Takumi to his home. Besides his mom working day and night, raising four kids costed a lot of money. Hence, their home wasn’t in the best part of the city. It wasn’t like Ren was ashamed by this. He was thankful for everything his mom did for him and his brothers all alone. Yet he didn’t know what Takumi might think about them because he didn’t know anything about his family background. Keigo and Ruki were known to be the rich ones in their class, thus he assumed everyone else was from a middle-class family.  
Yet all friends he brought home previously, had been from a similar background as him. 

“Mom has prepared some food we can warm up if you are hungry.”  
Even though Ren hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast, he did not feel any hunger. The shock has made all other instincts disappear. “It’s okay. Tell me what happened.”  
“I don’t know much either. Rao was found by his friends near the youth centre. But-”  
“But what?”  
“It might be unrelated... I don’t want you to worry.”  
“Kou, I’m worried as fuck already. Rao was found half dead and I have no idea what happened.” Once more Takumi took his hand in help of calming him down. 

“There was a fire in the youth centre, too. We don’t know if it’s related since there wasn’t anything fire related found with him.”  
That information explained a lot for Ren. “It was an attack.”  
“Jin said the same, but I don’t believe it. Why would anyone attack the centre?”  
“Where is Jin anyway? I haven’t seen him yet.” Now that his other younger brother was mentioned, Ren began to worry about his absence, too. “It’s simple. The gangs hated it from the first moment because they lost the kids to the centre.”  
“He is investigating. But he should be home soon. I’ve texted him that you come.” 

True to Kou’s words, Ren’s other brother arrived shortly afterwards. Seeing him uninjured make Ren hug him long. “It’s dangerous to investigate alone.”  
“I know. But someone had to take a look before evidence disappears.”  
“Did you find something?”  
“Yes. It was an attack. Someone threw something into the centre to start the fire. I guess Rao saw them and had to flee.”  
“Makes sense.” Ren had the same theory after the oldest one of them had told him about the fire. 

As exhausted Ren was from the day, he was unable to sleep the night. Too much was going on inside his head. He just hoped that his youngest brother was save in the hospital.  
“You need to sleep.” Surprisingly, Takumi was awake, too. Due the lack of place, Ren and him shared Ren’s and Kou’s former room, while the oldest moved into one room of the younger brothers.  
“But I can’t. Too many thoughts.”  
“But you can’t do anything now.”  
“And that’s the problem.” If Ren could, he would try to search for the culprits and make them pay for what they did to his brother. 

“You can do it tomorrow.”  
“I don’t want to be too late.” The blue haired one felt too late already. He couldn't help but think that if he stayed in Fukuoka, he could have prevented the accident in some way.  
“Your brother is in the hospital. Nothing will happen to him.”  
“I hope so.” He really did. The gangs still held much influence in this area.  
“Is it those gangs? Are they that strong?” 

“They are. They used to control the whole area until the city office finally decided to do anything against them. One of their actions was to build the youth centre to get the kids off the street.” Back when Ren was younger, becoming a member of those gangs had been one of the few career options for kids from this area. It had gotten better, him and his brothers actually had a future now.  
“I thought that only happens in movies.”  
“I wish it was something from the movies. But it used to be the reality here.”  
“And you? Were you part of a gang too? Or your older brother?”  
“No, Kou never had time for that. He was too busy helping mom in taming us and I was among the first kids they snatched from the claws of the gangs.” 

Joining the gangs had been tempting when he was younger. They seemed to be rich and money was something they needed. They never had to go without food, but his mother had to work too much to give them a somewhat secure life. He didn’t want the money for himself, no, he wanted it for his mother to give her the life she deserved. But then the centre opened and he discovered dancing as his passion there. Soon the gangs and the hardships of life were forgotten and Ren had found a new goal in his life. 

Without a warning, Takumi suddenly got up from his bed and went over to his one. Automatically Ren shifted closer to the wall, so there was space for the red haired one.  
“I’m sorry that you had it that hard.” Takumi said after he laid down next to him.  
“No need to be sorry. It’s not your fault.” Ren didn’t need a sorry feeling from anyone. Life wasn’t fair to everyone, yet his family proved that despite hard circumstances you could still have a chance. At least, he hoped that his youngest brother still had a chance in life besides his injuries. 

Only the moonlight illuminated the room, but having Takumi that close made Ren’s heart beat faster. For a moment all his worries were forgotten and all he could think about was whether he should kiss the boy next to him.  
“Did you used to have an eyebrow piercing?” The sudden question made Ren return to reality.  
“Eh yes. I took it out before transferring.”  
Gently, Takumi’s fingers brushed over the spot where Ren used to have the piercings and even in the faint moonlight, Ren believed to see that he was blushing. 

But before he could do anything, Takumi took his pillow and placed it between them. “Eh? Takumi?”  
“I want to sleep now. Good night.” To add to Ren’s misery, Takumi also turned his back towards him.  
“Takumi?”  
“I said good night.” 

Ultimately, Ren felt asleep and the next morning, he was woken up by his mother. Ren was more than glad to taste her delicious breakfast once more. He needed the energy and positive feeling he got from it.  
Right after the breakfast they went to visit the hospital and the positive things continued.  
Rao was awake and even though he wasn’t able to remember anything about the accident, the doctors expected him not to have any lasting injuries. It made everyone feel much better, yet the older brothers still wanted to find the culprit. 

Naturally, the youngest brother was delighted to have his whole family visit him, especially Ren who he hadn’t seen in a while.  
“The light blue suits you! I used to think that the silver hair was your real hair colour.”  
“You should have learnt in biology class that silver hair isn’t possible.”  
“Smartass.”  
Joking around with everyone made Ren feel more at ease. He was still anxious about everything that had happened, yet for the time being he was able to push it into the back of his mind. 

At the same time their mother had to leave for work once again, the brothers decided to leave, too. Rao protested but the nurses also suggested rest for him.  
Not wanting to disturb the family reunion, Takumi had opted to visit the city alone and even though Ren had a bad feeling about that, he eventually agreed to meet him afterwards again. The brothers wanted to investigate more, yet they couldn’t leave Takumi alone for long. He didn’t know the city well, thus he had to tag along sooner or later. 

When they meet up expecting the sweet tooth to be shared by the brothers, Takumi brought something from a famous bakery with him. As happy as happy Ren was about the gesture, the red haired one had bought the wrong types.  
“But it has cream... and matcha.”, he whined which caused his brothers to laugh.  
“Oh, you haven’t told your boyfriend about your million dislikes yet?”, snickered Kou.  
“He is not my boyfriend.” Both students answered with a blush at the same time. 

Eventually, the four boys went to the side of the accident together. There had to be some hint of the felons there.  
At the centre, Ren’s old friends were waiting already. “It feels good to see you again, Ren.”  
“Same.” Yet, it felt foreign to spend time with them once again. He still liked them, but at the same time, Ren wasn’t sure whether he fit into his friends again. Had he changed that much during his short time at JO1 Highschool already, he wondered. 

At the same time, it was obvious that Takumi didn’t fit there either. He might have a yankee look like everyone else, but his whole personality was so different that he easily stood out among them. His old friends and family were no danger, they were all good people. Still, Ren prayed that they wouldn’t run into the more dangerous people. 

As expected, the police or the culprits had cleaned the centre already and the side of the accident had no new evidence, too.  
“What should we do?” Despite the setback Ren was still determined to find the people who were responsible for his brother’s injuries.  
“We should go home.” As always, the oldest one was the voice of reason, yet everyone including Takumi disagreed.  
“The longer we wait, the smaller the chance to find those assholes becomes.” One of Ren’s friend, Pisu, said.  
“But what should we do? We just can’t go to the gang and ask them." Naturally, Kou was right, but there had to be a way to find the truth. 

Suddenly, everyone heard glass shatter in the distance.  
“That’s the direction of the centre!”, Ren announced and all boys ran towards it.  
Already from the distance they could see that a group of people had gathered in front of it and for everyone but Takumi their jackets made clear who those people were: the local gang.  
Because they didn’t know what kind of weapons they carried, Ren’s group decided to hide behind a corner before approaching them. 

“This time, we will be rid of this damned place for sure. No brat will disturb us this time.”, one of the gang members said.  
“I’ve heard the brat died while running away from us. Deserves him right. We don’t need any weaklings here.”  
The other member said while laughing and throwing something that burned into the centre.  
Hearing this made the blood of all Kawashiri brothers boil. No one was allowed to talk or laugh about their youngest brother like that. 

“Ren, Takumi and Jin, you leave now.”, Kou announced all of sudden.  
“What?” Ren had no idea what his brother was planning and his other brother didn't seem to be happy about that either.  
“Shit is about to become dirty and I want you to stay out of that.” Ren could barely remember a time when his oldest brother sounded that angry. Normally, he was calmer than Sho.  
“But-”  
“No buts. You three go now.”  
Jin also tried to protest yet the tone in their oldest brother’s voice didn’t leave any room for discussions. 

“We are going to take of everything. Remember when you left, we promised that we take care of your younger brothers, too?”, Pisu reassured.  
Still, Ren wanted to join. He wanted to hurt the people who hurt his brother.  
Strangely, it was Takumi in that moment who took both brother’s hands and started to drag them away.  
“Please return home.”, was all Ren could say before they started to run into the opposite direction. 

Once the three returned home, the anxious waiting started. No one was able to do anything until the oldest brother returned. All of them were revealed that Ren’s mother didn’t know anything about what was going on. The woman didn’t deserve any more worries in her life.  
However, with every hour, every minute that passed the boys became more anxious. Eventually, it was close to the end of the shift of Ren’s mother, but Kou managed to return before her.  
“Don’t worry. Everything is solved and everyone is alive.”, was all what he said before going for a shower.  
Later Ren found the clothes his brother wore that day bloodied and torn in the trash, but he had returned and that’s what mattered. 

Thanks to the weekend, Ren and Takumi were able to stay two more days in Fukuoka and everyone agreed not to tell Mrs. Kawashiri about what happened. Ren was still anxious every time they left the house, yet the days were far more enjoyable than the other ones. They reminded him why he loved his hometown besides its bad sides. Thus, departing for the JO1 Highschool was hard once more. All of his friends and family brought them to the station and his mother had made a huge lunch box for both of the boys. 

However, there was still one question left unanswered for Ren. “Why did you want me to leave too? Was it because of Takumi?”, he asked while hugging his friends as a goodbye.  
“No because you were never made for this world, Ren. You are too soft.”, Pisu said. “I’m glad you found a new place in life. That school is your world now.”  
“But I grew up here like you guys. I can fight.”  
“Just because you grew up here, it doesn’t mean it’s the place where you belong. You belong somewhere else, on a stage for example.”  
“You dance as good as me.”, Ren protested. “So, it doesn’t make sense what you say.”  
“Deep down you know what I mean.” Maybe Ren did understand what his friend meant, yet at the same time, it was still surreal in some way. “That transfer was the best thing that happened to you.” 

Once more Ren wanted to protest, yet they hadn’t much time left and he still needed to say goodbye to his mother, too.  
“A lovely boyfriend you have. You two are such a cute couple.”, she said while he hugged her, too.  
“He is not my boyfriend.”  
“Yet.”, was all his mother said before letting him go. “Don’t forget to call me when you are back in the dorm.” 

“All of your friends think we are couple.”, Takumi said when they sat on the train which took them back to their school while eating the lunch box for Ren’s mother.  
“I’m sorry if they made you uncomfortable for that.” Though everything that happened in the recent days between them, too, Ren had still no idea what their relationship was like. They were more than friends, weren’t they?  
“I didn’t say that.”, Takumi said with a smirk. “Especially if that means I’m getting such a good food.” 

For a second, Ren thought he was dreaming. Did Takumi really say that? “You would date me for my mom’s food? I can cook as good as her.”  
“That’s why you keep asking Junki to make you lunch.”  
“Because it’s free. Free food is the best.”  
“You are not wrong, but I still don’t believe you.”  
“Then I will prove you that I’m a good cook.” Ren’s competitive side was fuelled by the want to impress the red haired one. “Next Saturday, you come over to my room and I’ll cook for you.”  
“Deal.”  
With that Ren secured his first real date with Takumi.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone~  
> As you can see this chapter was 100% inspired by the first Stargazer trailer (& living on RenKumi crumbs...)  
> Next chapter (unless the next trailer makes me go jasffgda again) will focus once again more on the chaos inside the school, but I hope you enjoyed the chapter anyway!  
> See ya~


	4. Come together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our boys get an invitation for a dance battle which brings both Issei and Sho into a conflict with their pasts. But Ren's main worry is his first date with Takumi...

After their return from Fukuoka, Ren’s mind solely focused on his upcoming date with Takumi for the first days. He wanted to impress the red haired one, no matter what it costed. Technically, the costs of ingredients mattered a lot, but luckily both Junki and Sho had a lot of food in their rooms and wouldn’t mind if he took some. Even during their dance club meetings, his mind never drifted far from the date, thus he nearly missed the news of the week. 

“Guys, I got this invitation this morning. A dance battle against another high school dance club.”, Syoya suddenly mentioned.  
“A battle? I’m ready to crush them.”, as always Shion was ready to fight, but all members were happy that he found a better way to deal with his fighting energy. Dance battles were much school rule friendlier.  
Still, there was something off for Ren. “Why did they ask you? I am the leader of this club.”  
“I think they wanted to approach you, but you seem with your mind elsewhere since you are back from your family. Are you alright?” 

While the whole trip to his hometown had shaken Ren, knowing that his youngest brother was safe and his family protected now, made him feel assured. But the date with Takumi was another story. “Yes, I’m fine. It’s just a lot to process what happened.”, he lied, not wanting to admit the truth to the chaotic club members. They would tease him until the end of his days. “So tell me, what’s that about?” 

Speaking of chaotic club members, it took Syoya some time until he found the invitation letter in his bag.  
The letter had a quite elegant design, black envelop which had a planet pattern. “Orbit High? I think I’ve heard that name somewhere.” The name was familiar but Ren couldn’t place it anywhere. Still, he read the letter. The other dance club suggested a dance battle in about three weeks. They had seven members, but it didn’t matter to them how many members the JO1 club had. Altogether, the letter sounded pretty confident. “I wonder how they found us. We have that one YouTube video, but it doesn’t have that much views yet.” 

Because their main focus was the school festival and their member number kept changing, they only recently managed to upload one dance cover. That they got an invitation for a dance battle already was surprising. “What do you-”  
However, before Ren could finish the sentence Issei suddenly got up and left the room. Everyone looked confused, but as the club leader Ren felt the responsible to look after him. “I’ll check on Mame.” 

Yet instead of their youngest club member, Ren met Sukai on the floor. “You are still here? Have you seen Mame?”  
For some reason Sukai's usual poker face started to slip and he seemed somewhat awkward when he relied. “Eh yes.. And I’ve seen him. I think he went to the roof.”  
“Okay thanks.”  
Ren was about to leave just as Sukai stopped him. “I think it’s better to leave him alone for a moment.”  
“If you say so.” On the one hand, Ren wanted to follow, but on the other one he felt that Sukai was properly right. “What are you doing here anyway?” 

Suddenly, the always cool Sukai became somewhat shy and started to stutter. “S-so yeah.. I-I saw you guys dancing recently... and you kinda looked cool and I would love to join if it’s okay. I never danced but-”  
“You want to join? Sure.” While Ren had no idea, what was wrong with the other one, he was glad to have recruited a new member. They were the same size as Orbit High’s club, thus their chances for the dance battle increased. 

Agreeing to leave Issei alone, Ren returned with Sukai.  
“That’s not Mame.”  
“That’s Sukai. Ren, you need some glasses.” Shion and Syoya high fived because of their lame joke and the rest of the members seemed to be slightly confused.  
“I know. Sukai wanted to join and Mame needs some time alone.” 

Not being able to plan any further without Issei the members decided to introduce Sukai to the basics of their club. This was more than needed because Sukai had no previous experience with dancing, thus making everyone wonder why he wanted to join. However, he had some experience in Karate which could proof useful if that Orbit club didn’t follow the rules. Or if Shion had too much energy and wanted to fight someone again.

Eventually, each member became anxious about Issei not returning. They just decided to look for him when Sho entered their club room. “I’ve heard from Mame that you will have a dance battle with the Orbit High.” His voice sounded rather stern in that moment and his face matched that.  
“Yes, according to the school rules that should be possible.” At least no one had told Ren that dance battles were forbidden. Real ones yes, but dance battles seemed to be fine.  
“You won’t accept that invitation.”  
“Why?” 

From time to time their class leader was stricter than their teacher, yet that was unexpected for all club members. Initially, Sho had supported their activities and plans. “You won’t accept. Period.”  
Naturally, each club member protested. It was their first chance to proof themselves and they had no idea why Sho was trying to stop them from it.  
“Sometimes it’s not smart to re-open old wounds. I don’t want to discuss it any further.”  
More question marks appeared in the heads of the dancers, yet each one stayed quiet. Their leader was strange and no one wanted to provoke him. 

“What was that?”, said Shion after Sho left.  
Besides being a student of the JO1 High for some time, Ren still felt like the newbie who had no idea about certain things from time to time. “Was there some conflict with the Orbit High?”  
“Not that I knew.”, said S4 at the same time. When they realised that they spoke at the same time, tension erupted and just to be safe, Ren positioned himself between Shosei and Shion.  
Eventually, also because they didn't know how to proceed because of Issei’s absence and Sho’s words, they decided to postpone to decision to a later date. 

Once again before Ren had the chance to ask Takumi whether they should return to their dorm together, the red haired one had disappeared to the dancer’s disappointment already. Instead Ren wanted to check on Issei, but that boy was nowhere to be found either. Only his self-declared bodyguard and new dance club member Sukai was found. Ren didn’t mind. He had some questions anyway. 

“Why did you join our club? You never danced before, right?” Ren had always been a curious person, thus he wanted to know what made Sukai decide to join them. The decision seemed to unexpected.  
“That’s true. But coming to this school, I wanted to change myself and challenge something new. For a while I had no idea how but when I saw you and the others... I want to move like you guys.”  
“We can make you move like us soon.” While Sukai’s initial dancing looked clumsy, he had some talent inside of him and the right motivation. Ren was sure that he would be able to dance as fluently as everyone else. 

On the way to their dorm they passed a konbini and both students decided to get themselves some ice cream. To Ren’s surprise Sukai also picked the chocolate flavoured one.  
“Believe it or not I love chocolate.”, he just said. “And the other ones taste too much like milk...”  
“True. Milk is horrible.” Surprisingly, they shared some similarities that Ren didn’t expect. Sukai’s mom was also a single mom and family meant a lot to them. Also, they shared some likes and dislikes of food. 

“How did you end up at our school anyway? You seem to be a decent guy.” Actually, most of them were decent guys who just had some small problems with society rules. But besides looking a little scary at first, Sukai seemed harmless.  
“It was such a stupid incident... A girl in my class dropped what I thought to be her notes, I picked those up and a friend started to read those loudly. Teacher came in with her and they thought I was the culprit. The next day her boyfriend and his friends attacked me and I used my Karate skills to defend myself. Well, they said I attacked them and then I was transferred here.”  
“So, a misunderstanding?”  
“Yes, but I’m glad to be here. The environment of this school is nicer.”  
Ren could only agree to this. He never felt better at school. 

The next day, Ren finally managed to catch Issei before class. “Mame, what’s going on? Why did you leave yesterday?”  
“It’s nothing.” While Issei’s mood was usually bright, right now he looked like a kicked puppy.  
“There is clearly something. Tell me.” At this point Ren was pretty sure to get another secret story from one of his classmates. How many did he knew yet? Three? Four?

“My older brother is there.”  
“But that’s nice. Why don’t you look forward to see him again?”  
“Well, he is not my real older brother... He kinda adopted me as his younger brother, but one day he disappeared.”  
“But if you know where he is and you could see him again, why are you so sad?” The whole thing was hard to understand for the blue haired one. If he was in Issei's position, he would be beyond happy to see his friend again.  
“I’m afraid if I see him again, I will start to miss him afterwards again.” 

However, that statement explained something. Seeing his family again a few days ago made his homesickness stronger, too, besides having fully packed days. Thus, it should't be much different when it came to a friend. “So, you are against accepting the invitation?”  
“If you guys want to, accept it. But Sho is against everything anyway.”  
“You know it?”  
“He found me after I left yesterday and I told him everything... Apparently, there is someone special for him at that school, too.”  
Slowly the puzzle pieces came together and as much as he didn’t want to see Issei sad, he was more determinate to accept that invitation. There seemed to be so much more to uncover. 

During the club meeting later that day, everyone else agreed to accept the invitation and Issei followed that majority. Ren offered him that he doesn't have to participate, yet their youngest wanted to. For some reason, Ren felt like Issei decided that he wanted a closure in some way.  
Another agreement among the members was done that day, too: to keep everything as secret as possible from their class leader. 

With that problem solved, there was only one challenge left for Ren: his date with Takumi. He had decided on a menu for that day and from Shosei he had gotten some DVDs to watch with the red haired one. Also, his room was cleaner than during the day he moved into it, thus he was prepared. Yet at the same time he was more nervous than he had ever been in his life.  
Takumi messed up his mind even when he wasn’t in the same room as him. 

The night before Ren barely slept. The nervous feeling was getting him and in the short time he slept, his dreams teleported him back to Fukuoka. Yet this time he was the villain who hurt his friends. First Issei, then Junki and lastly Takumi. The dream was strange but in the morning he felt awful nevertheless. He looked awful when he got up and he feared the worst for the date later. 

He had no idea how to hide that he had little sleep that night. He could solve the tiredness with coffee, yes, but there was no way he would drink that awful drink. Also, even if he solved that problem, there were visible signs of his lack of sleep, too. Those didn’t even disappear after a long bath. At least the bath helped his body to regain some power, so that he could start to prepare the meal. 

There was a knock on his door while he was still in the middle of making the burger and for a second Ren thought he forgot the time. Luckily, it was just Sukai.  
"I wanted to ask you for your chemistry notes and damn.. You look awful.”, said his classmate in a dry tone.  
“I know, I didn’t sleep well.”  
“Nervous because of date with Takumi later?”  
“You know about it?”  
“Shion has a bet going on.” Of course, he did... 

“Do you have any idea how I could look more presentable?” He should have asked Keigo earlier, he thought, but his friend was usefully not found in their dorm on the weekend. Thus, he had to gasp for any small help he could get.  
“I have something against your physical tiredness and I know someone who can help to fix your look.”  
“Please be fast.” There was only 30 minutes left until Takumi would come over and he still had to take care of the meal. 

It only took Sukai a few moments to return with Syoya and one of his infamous energy drinks. “You will like this one.”, he said and offered to watch the stove while the other one took care of Ren’s appearance.  
Unexpectedly, Syoya owned some make-up and styling skills, thus Ren looked like he had some sleep that night in a matter of minutes. “You guys saved me. I dunno how I can return the favour.”  
“You helped me with Shion, so-” But then the black haired stopped himself and seemed to consider something. “You know what? If you let me copy your answers during the next math test, the favour will be returned.”  
Sukai nodded in agreement and Ren didn’t mind. They were all cheating during tests anyway. 

The nervous feeling skyrocketed when Takumi finally knocked on his door. He tried to play as cool as possible when he opened the door for his crush, but even in comfortable weekend clothes Takumi looked breath-taking in Ren’s eyes. He was beyond whipped for him.  
“Hey, I brought some drinks.”, Takumi said with a smile and pointed at the box of cola in his other hand.  
“Thank you. Come in.” 

Their rooms were small, so after passing the small kitchen they were in Ren’s living + bedroom already. They had no other choice but to sit on Ren’s bed and Ren actually looked forward to have Takumi’s smell still in his bed when he would go to sleep later that day.  
“I hope you are hungry. I made a lot.”  
“It’s better be as good as you promised.” 

Naturally, Ren hoped the same. He wanted to impress Takumi and finally secure his heart on that day. He could feel something had changed after their trip to Fukuoka and besides not having much talked since then. Having the red haired one coming over to his room felt like another step, besides them having shared a bed together already.  
Carefully, not wanting to drop the dish because of his fussy feelings, he brought the hamburger over he had made earlier. It was still warm and Ren hoped that he didn’t made any mistake earlier. Still, he didn’t even dare to eat until Takumi had taken the first bite. 

“Why are you looking at me like that? Did you put something funny into it?”  
“No, I’m just curious.” Ren must have starred at the other one and embarrassment made his face become warm in that moment. Hopefully, he thought, things wouldn’t become worse. “So.. What you think about that?”  
“It’s good.” Ren was about to hug the red haired one when he continued: “But not as good as the one from my mom.” The happiness he felt for a second earlier was blown away, just for Takumi to change his mood with the next sentence again. “But I think it should be enough to make me miss my mother’s cooking or the one from your mom less.” 

“Really?” It might not have been the win he expected, but now he was content with the third place, too. But that didn’t mean he would stop making hamburgers for Takumi until he reached the first place.  
“Yes, I expect one every weekend now.”, Takumi said while grinning.  
“Every weekend?” Had it the implication, the blue haired one hoped for, he wondered.  
“Or do you want your boyfriend to be hungry and craving good food?”  
With disbelief Ren looked at the other one. Did he really just call him his boyfriend? Was he dreaming?

“Earth to Ren. Are you still here?”  
Ren was doubting that he was still in some kind of reality. His head was nothing but an echo of Takumi calling himself his boyfriend. “You are... My boyfriend?”  
“I just said that, didn’t I?” Somehow Takumi seemed to be amused by Ren’s reaction. “Everyone thinks that anyway already, so why not making it official?”  
His friends and family in Fukuoka had said the same, but Ren had no idea how their class saw them. Still, he was thrilled, thus he couldn’t help but throw his arms around Takumi and kiss him. 

Normally, Ren was shy when it came to people he liked romantically, yet in this moment he felt like he had to gasp it or rather gasp Takumi. The red haired one was so unlike everyone else he had met in his life and he didn’t want to let him go anymore. He was still a mystery and Ren looked forward to uncover him and his way of thinking. 

However, in his moment his priority were the lips of his new boyfriend. Sure, there was the faint taste of the hamburger he just had started to eat, but there was also a hint of strawberry, maybe from a lip balm. Most likely thanks to said lip balm Takumi’s lips were soft which was so unlike from what you would expect from a guy with his looks. Also, Ren came to realisation soon that the other one wasn’t inexperienced either, because he was quite the good kisser. Yet, there came the moment when Takumi pulled away. 

“The food is getting cold and I think the dessert can wait a little longer.” He was right, but Ren couldn’t help but wanting to continue on the spot. Still, he hadn’t eaten anything yet and the promise of Takumi becoming his dessert wasn’t bad either. 

Having to return to school on Monday, meant that Ren was caught up in an investigation by Junki and Keigo that day. Both knew about his date, hence they were curious about the outcome.  
“So, tell me how it went.”  
“Is Takumi a bottom or a top? I think he is a-”  
“Keigo!”, said both blue haired students in sync.  
“We didn’t go that far.” It was their first date ever and Ren was sure his heart wouldn’t have handled to go that far. Thinking about that made Ren turn into a tomato already. 

“But something happened?”, Junki concluded.  
“He is my boyfriend now.”  
“Aaaaand?”  
“We made out.” A cheer erupted from both of his friends, yet that information was still not enough for one of them.  
“Is he a good kisser at least?”  
“Keigo, why are you so interested in those details?”  
Yet Keigo’s answer was muted by the school bell and Naoto calling them to class, thus Ren was saved from any more awkward questions. 

A perk of Takumi finally deciding to be his boyfriend was that the red haired one waited for him after school ended for the day. Because they knew Sho was staying longer for some reason that day, they decided not to have any club meeting, so that their class leader wouldn’t find out about them ignoring his words. 

However, when they left the school a guy suddenly approached them. “Are you students from this school?” His accent was kind of weird and he looked about Sho’s age.  
“Yes. Why do you want to know this?” Ren had no idea who that guy was and while he didn’t have any bad feeling regarding this guy, he was strange anyway.  
“Is Mame-chan at this school?”  
It was rare that anyone outside of their class used Issei’s nickname, so Ren wondered even more who that guy was.  
“Again, why do you want to know this?” Takumi seemed to mistrust that guy too. His body language immediately changed to one ready to attack in case it was needed. 

“Younghoon?” Suddenly, there was Issei right behind them and the boy seemed to be shocked to see that guy, who was apparently named Younghoon which confirmed Ren’s suspicion that he was a foreigner.  
“Mame-chan, you are here!” That guy seemed excited to see their youngest and wanted to go to him, but both Ren and Takumi still had no idea about him, hence they blocked his way.  
“What are you doing here, Younghoon?” Issei’s voice was shacking and Ren was sure that he was close to crying. The dancer wanted to comfort him, but for now it seemed smarter to stand between those two.  
“Ah I looked for you. I missed my younger brother.” 

For a moment that statement made Ren confused. How could a guy from Korea – at least that was what he assumed because of the name and the accent – be the older brother of Issei? Yet then he remembered what the other one had told him, about the friend who was like a brother to him and went to Orbit High one day.  
“You left me! Go away!” The shaking in Issei’s became stronger and Ren could spot tears rolling down his cheeks. 

That Younghoon guy seemed be hurt by the statement, but nodded. “It’s okay. That Mame-chan is healthy is good to see.” With that he turned around and left. Yet on his bag, Ren spotted a similar Shiba Inu keychain like Issei had.  
After he was out of sight, both Ren and Takumi went over to their still crying classmate and tried comfort him.  
“Wanna talk about that?” Ren could feel Takumi rolling his eyes and hear his thoughts that he shouldn’t stick his nose into the past of another one of their classmates, but he didn't care. Issei needed someone in that moment.

Ultimately, it took Issei a few minutes and a pudding tard from their local konbini until he was ready to talk. “He was the friend I mentioned to you last week.”  
“I thought so.”  
“One day, he just left... a friend of him had left our school earlier and he followed him instead of staying with me.” Again, a small sob escaped Issei. “I didn’t know why. All he said it was better that way. It took me forever to find out where they went and eventually, I missed class so often that they made me transfer here.”  
“So that’s where you got your investigation skills from?” Even Takumi had become softer and gently pat Issei’s head.  
“Yes. I look young and innocent, so people told me everything. It just took too long until I got the information I wanted.” 

The story explained a lot about Issei in Ren’s eyes. That’s why the boy was always there, but he was never close with anyone. He didn’t want to go through another loss like that. “How long did it take you?”  
“Until I saw the invite from Orbit High. His name was written there, too.”  
Judging that Issei came to the school before him and that his search must have taken some time beforehand, a lot of time must have passed. Thus, it was no surprise that the boy had mixed feelings now. “You still want to join the dance battle?”  
“Yes, I want to show him, I don’t need him anymore.” Issei seemed to be determined yet Ren knew that it was nothing but an act. Him clutching at the Shiba Inu keychain was enough to betray his words. 

After buying more pudding tards to cheer Issei up, the three classmates decided to return to their dorm, yet suddenly Ruki ran into them.  
“Guys, I need your help. Sho is becoming too much.” Above their school uniform, Ruki was wearing an apron which confused the others. They had no home economics class that day.  
“Why? And what are you wearing?”  
“Sho forced me to take cooking classes.” Everyone knew that their class prince was a bad cook, thus the information made the three only laugh. “Yeah, laugh as much as you want, but that guy is becoming too much. He wants to spend every fucking second with me.” 

“He wants to be your boyfriend.” Ren’s own crush for Takumi had been obvious already, but Sho’s crush for Ruki was even worse.  
“Yeah, but I don’t want him to be my boyfriend and that’s the problem.”  
It was indeed not just a problem for Ren, but also for Shosei who had a (secret) crush on Ruki. Now that his own relationship was secured and that he had the tendency to involve himself in everyone’s business anyway, the dancer actually had thought about helping his friend. “Maybe you need a boyfriend to make him back off and I think I know someone who could help you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone!  
> I didn't forget about this story, it was hard to write the chapter besides knowing the plot from the start.  
> Actually, I wanted to end the story with the next chapter, but a lot of people in Twitter want to see some kind of backstory for everyone. So far we have Takumi, Shion, Ren, Sukai & Mame and I planned to add Sho's, Ruki's and Shosei's backstory into the next chapter, so I guess there will be 6 chapters if I manage to find some good (connected) plotline for Junki, Keigo and Syoya?  
> Well, we will see how many chapters this story eventually has.  
> See you~


	5. Join

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Before the dance battle against the students of the Orbit High, the dance club recruits more members and once again Ren has to help his classmates with their past troubles - to Takumi's disappointment.

For whatever reason and once again it was left to Ren to fix everyone’s mess. There was Issei with that Korean guy who was kind of his brother, Ruki wanting to escape Sho and whatever Sho’s problem was with the students from the Orbit High. It was a mess and Ren would have preferred to focus himself on the upcoming dance battle and his boyfriend. Said boyfriend wasn’t happy about everything either, yet he became used to the blue haired one ending up helping everyone in some way, too. 

“Well you can leave the Ruki problem to Shosei. I’m sure he will be glad to help.” It was lunch break and to flee from the chaos that their class was the two went to their usual hideout on the school roof again.  
“That’s my plan, too. Since my first day Shosei seems to be ready to fight Sho for Ruki’s sake.” It had been one of their first talks when Shosei confessed to him that he liked Ruki, but their class leader made everything difficult.  
“To fight Sho? Are you sure that we are not talking about Shion?”  
“Shosei is working out for that, believe it or not.” It was hard to believe when you saw Shosei's cute face, but he had built up some muscles.  
“But he is too shy.” 

And that was the problem. While Shosei was quite confident when he was alone with Ren, once Ruki was close to him, he turned too shy to do anything effective. Thus, there was barely a progress in his advances towards their class prince since Ren had arrived at the school.  
“Ruki needs to make the first step.” was the only way to get some progress in that case.  
“You think, he would do that?” Meanwhile Takumi was more sceptical. He had witnessed them longer than his boyfriend did and he couldn’t see much from Ruki’s side. 

“Sure. He wants to get rid of Sho and he seems to like Shosei. The two often work in partner projects together, right?” And each time Ren could see how excited Shosei was about that. Luckily, Sho was usually put in the Syoya-Shion team to save their grade, thus giving Shosei some time to spend with his crush alone.  
“You think that’s enough?”  
“I have no idea, but let’s give Shosei a chance.”  
“Nah, you are doing that alone.” 

Besides helping him to plot and sorting out his thoughts, Takumi was still opposed to Ren’s helper syndrome. The moment when the red haired one turned from a helpful boyfriend to a kid who wanted to have Ren’s attention to himself was always too cute. The dancer couldn’t help but pull his boyfriend closer and give him a kiss. “It won’t take long. Then you have my full attention back.”  
“You better be right.” 

Having no idea when he could talk with Ruki in peace, Ren decided to invite him to the dance club. Their class leader wasn’t a member yet and Ren figured out that maybe during their practises Ruki and Shosei could come closer. As the blonde one was one of the founding members, too, and the blue haired one was still busy teaching Sukai the basics, thus it seemed to be a good plan.  
Luckily, Ruki wasn’t opposed to the idea. He had some experience with music because he was a member of the school band in his former school. 

“Makes me wonder why we don’t have one.” Ren said when he the other one told him about that. JO1 High supported the creative adventures of their students. Setting up the dance club had been easy and had been also welcomed by the administration.  
“Sho and I were about to make one, but then that guy became too much.”  
“Oh really? So, you two got along first?” 

As long as Ren was that the school, it was always like that Sho was head over heels for Ruki, but the shorter one, fitting to his nickname, ignored him and his advances as much as possible. And now, it had become too much for Ruki and their current problem happened.  
“Yes, actually we got along pretty well. We came here at the same time and in a similar situation.”  
“What kind of situation?” The blue haired one knew already that the next life story would follow in that moment. 

“Well, you know why I was transferred here, don’t you?”  
“You tried to buy good grades.”  
“Yes, not my smartest idea I know. I really needed a good grade or else they wouldn’t have let me participate in the band contest, but because of the all practise for that contest I had no time to study.” Ruki seemed to be ashamed by his past actions, but in some way Ren could relate to him. His own passion made him miss a lot of school work, too. “The other band members were my best friends and when I came here, far away from my hometown, I was so lonely. Sho was also separated from his best friend due the transfer and yes... We related to each other. But eventually he started to cling too much and here we are.” 

Inside of Ren’s mind the puzzle pieces came together. While he agreed that their class leader’s behaviour was over the top, he could connect the dots how it came to this. However, it didn’t offer a better solution for the situation. For now, he had to proceed as planned. “Shosei will help you with the first steps. I’m still busy with teaching Sukai, but Shosei is as good as me.”  
“No problem. I like working with him. He has a soothing presence.” 

Naturally, Shosei was beyond excited when Ruki became a part of their club and he was tasked with teaching the basics to their newest addition. Ren wasn’t sure yet, if their new member could become used to everything before the dance battle. However he assumed that there was enough time to practise until the school festival which was more important anyway.

Later, Ren was curious how his friend was feeling, hence in the evening he decided to visit Shosei’s room. So far, he hadn’t seen the inside of it, but when he appeared at the blonde one’s door, he was invited inside on the spot. The pompom purin plushie that Ren had traded him for some instant ramen some time ago was sitting on his bed and there were some memorabilia from Shosei’s time in the USA.  
“Thank you so much, Ren! It’s fun to teach Ruki everything.” The blonde one was still on cloud nine and it was kind of cute how happy he was.  
“No problem. It’s your chance to become closer to him finally.” 

“I’m glad, but not just about that.” For a moment Shosei’s smile disappeared as if some dark memory had entered his mind. “At last I found true friends like you.” A smile returned to his face but it seemed sad.  
“Why are you saying this?” Second life story in one day? Indeed, he had become the class psychologist by accident, the blue haired one thought. 

“After I returned from America, no one wanted to be my friend. They called me weird, a foreigner as if it was an insult and then they started to bully me. When my teachers suggest a transfer, I happily accepted it, but initially I was scared the same would happen here.”, his classmate confessed.  
Still, the story surprised Ren. All of the other class members, including himself had been transferred because they had broken some school rules, but Shosei seemed to be a victim instead. “But why did they transfer you? You didn’t do anything wrong.”  
“Because I was the nail that stood out and disturbed the class peace.” 

This explanation made sense and was sad at the same time. Back in his previous school, standing out in some way, unless it was academically or by some sport skills, hadn’t been welcome either. That someone as soft and sweet as Shosei had been the victim of that, too, was unfortunate, yet on the other hand, it made him find a better place. “Luckily you are here now. That won’t happen again.”  
“I know.” 

Eventually, Ren stayed in Shosei’s room a little longer. They talked about how they wanted to proceed with their club and the upcoming dance battle and when he wanted to return to his room, it was already late.  
However, when he left Shosei’s room an angry Takumi was waiting next door. 

“You seemed to have a lot of fun over there.”, the red haired one said passive aggressively.  
“Sorry, we were loud, weren’t we?”  
“Yeah.” However, the way his boyfriend said that made Ren suspect something else was the problem.  
“Takkun, what’s wrong? Did we disturb you?”  
“No. I’m used to have a loud neighbour.”  
“Then what’s your problem? Don’t tell me you are jealous.” There was no other explanation. Already earlier that day the red haired one had been a little bothered by the fact that Ren was helping his friends with their problems all time. 

“I’m not.” It was typical of Takumi not to admit the obvious things. The boy had a hard time in accepting his feelings in general.  
“Baby, you are always my number one. But Shosei needs a friend.”  
“He has S3.”  
“Who have only half a brain cell. Sometimes you need a friend with brain cells.” Ren pulled Takumi into his arms. “We spend the lunch break together.”  
“Talking about other people.”  
“Okay true. How about this? Let’s watch a movie together tomorrow evening. Just the two of us and no one else.” It was cute to see Takumi being jealous but of course Ren didn’t say that loudly. 

“And lunch?” Meanwhile Takumi seemed to be soothed a little.  
“Well, it’s Friday, so it means that Junki brings some self-cooked lunch for us. He will be mad if we don’t eat it together and tell him our opinion.”  
“Okay.” The blue haired one had seen his boyfriend happier, but for the moment it seemed alright.  
“Tomorrow evening will be just the two of us. I promise.” After this vow Ren gave his boyfriend a good night kiss and returned to his room for the night. 

The next day passed without any special events. Sho didn’t seem happy to see Ruki actively approaching Shosei but so far, no fight happened. 

After dinner Takumi showed up at Ren’s door with his favourite DVD and as promised it was just the two of them. If someone had told the blue haired one a few weeks ago, that Takumi would be so clingy with him, he wouldn’t have believed it. Still, sitting on his bed with the shorter one in his arms felt like a dream. He barely payed attention to the movie, but it wasn’t as interesting as his boyfriend anyway. Takumi's handsomeness was shining even in the dimly lit room and he still couldn't believe that the red haired one had opened himself to him. While there was still a lot of things he hid even from Ren, they grew closer each day. 

Furthermore, Ren realised how good that moment felt. After all the chaos that happened in his daily life a moment of peace like that was more than welcome. Maybe his boyfriend was right and he should stop handling everyone’s problems and focus more on himself and his boyfriend. On the other hand, everyone needed some help in some way and he couldn’t say no to his friends. Ultimately, he decided that he needed to find the right balance in everything. His friends were important people in his life, too. 

With the dance battle coming up and gaining two new members recently, the dance club decided to meet on the weekend, too. Having nothing better to do Junki and Keigo tagged along to watch their practise and to give their (un)helpful comments.  
“Sukai, you are too stiff. With your long legs you need to move your hips, too, so that your movements appear more smoothly.”, Keigo eventually commented.  
Surprisingly, that observation was quite smart. Also, to everyone’s surprise the black haired one got up from his seat and showed Sukai what he meant. 

Until that moment Ren had tried his best to teach Sukai this, yet until now the dancer had always worked with people whose skill level was closer to his own one and Sukai’s physique was also different from his one which also added to his struggles with teaching his classmate. However, Keigo’s physique was similar and he seemed to know one or two things about dancing, too. 

“You used to dance?” Apparently, no one in their class knew about Keigo’s dance knowledge because even his best friend Junki seemed to be surprised.  
“Sure. It makes you popular with the girls.”, replied Keigo while laughing.  
“Then why didn’t you join us?” Not that Ren didn’t enjoy teaching dance to people who are new to dancing, but having more experienced members added more possibilities.  
“You guys are so serious about it. I’m done with a stressful school life.” And there was lazy Keigo again... 

“Ah come on, Keigo it was always fun to dance with you.”, said Syoya. So, there was someone in their class who knew about Keigo dancing, too. Yet Ren was surprised that it was Syoya who knew that. The two seemed to have some past together, Ren didn't know about yet. However knowing his classmates, he would know about it sooner or later for sure.  
“I’m not sure. Isn’t your dance battle like tomorrow?”  
“It’s next week on Sunday and you will learn everything you need to know until then.” The way Keigo had moved earlier had looked promising in Ren’s eyes.  
“It still sounds stressful.” 

“If you are going to join, I will join, too!”, Junki announced to everyone’s surprise.  
“You never danced in your life, Junkichi.” Meanwhile, Keigo didn’t seem thrilled by that idea.  
However, it was Junki and once Junki decided on something, it happened no matter what everyone else said. Hence, the other blue haired boy went over to the dance formation and added himself to the ranks while dragging his best friend along. “Music start!” 

“Junki, do you even have the slightest idea about dancing?” While Ren was impressed by his sudden motivation, he was doubtful about his skills.  
“No, but I will learn it with you guys.”  
“Are you sure?”  
“I watched you long enough.”  
The club’s lead dancer still doubted his friend, but he started the music anyway. 

As expected Junki did horribly. His movements and the actual choreography were two different things and comparted to him Sukai was shining already. Keigo, meanwhile, also struggled with the choreography but his basic movements spoke of his past experience. There was hope for him, but for Junki it would be a long way. 

Due the addition of another two new members, they had to change their choreography once more which in turn meant that the whole practise took longer than planned. Also, at this point everyone but their class leader was a member of the club. It wasn’t like they didn’t want him to be a part, too, but their leader still opposed that dance battle for whatever reason. The club however wanted to make it happen because it was the first real test of their skills and teamwork. On the other hand, having such a big number of participants made it harder to hide their activities from him.  
One more week and their secretness would find an end. 

Bringing everyone to a presentable level and keeping their motivation hidden from their class leader proofed to be a challenge. Luckily, everyone, even Keigo, was equally motivated, so they took turns in leading Sho the wrong way. Each day it became more difficult as Sho grew more irritated about Ruki refusing him, too. 

Their class prince started to outright refuse Sho’s invites and spend more time with Shosei and the other members of the dance club. Still, the club managed to go through the week without being caught – at least they thought so. 

To make sure no one suspected a thing, each of the members left the dorm with a different excuse at a different time. Ren and Takumi left first - café date in the city. Next up were Syoya and Shion – ready to raid the next game centre. Followed by Keigo und Junki - shopping. Next up were Ruki and Shosei – there was a new Disney store in town that they wanted to visit. Finally, Issei and Sukai left – an unlikely combination who wanted to check out some anime store. Their alibies seemed to be perfect and not 100% wrong. Actually, they all went to the city, yet they went to the venue where the dance battle was scheduled to happen. 

It was a bigger event where various schools from their region went against each other. Hence, it was the perfect opportunity to present themselves and their school. Secretly, each of them also hoped it would improve the image of their school. Besides the fact that a lot of graduates became successful in their later lifes, it still had a rather bad image, yet each of the students loved their school. They had found their places and their happiness at JO1 High. 

It didn’t take long for them to find their opponents. Just like them the guys from the Orbit High were quite... colourful. There was one freaking tall guy with nearly white hair, that Younghoon guy Ren, Issei and Takumi had met before, another guy who seemed to know their youngest, too, because when he spotted Issei he started smiling, two more of their members were arguing about something, while the third one with grey hair tried to pacify them and their last member looked fresh out of elementary school. 

“Your club grew. Still, you won’t stand a chance.”, said the tall guy who also had a Korean accent.  
Sadly, Ren felt like he wanted to agree. They managed to raise the level of their new members to a point that they wouldn’t embarrass themselves, but winning would be hard. The other club had a longer time being in their formation.  
Still, Ren smiled. “That’s what you think.” After all posing was part of the business.  
Meanwhile, the one who also seemed happy to see Issei looked like he wanted to approach him, yet he was held back by Younghoon who said something in Korean to him. 

Luckily, they weren’t the first teams. A lot of other schools also celebrated their rivalry and for Ren it was fascinating to watch each groups’ styles. There was so much for him still to learn and to improve.  
“Are you nervous?”, Takumi eventually asked him.  
“No not at all. I’m excited.” Also, back in Fukuoka Ren had never been nervous before performing. He was in his element when he danced, so why should he feel nervous? “Are you?”  
“A little. What if anyone knows me here?”  
“I doubt that, don’t worry.” He pulled his boyfriend closer and gave him a kiss on his forehead. “They will know you for your skills afterwards.” 

They were shown a room backstage and when they were about to start to warm up for their battle, a panic stricken Syoya came back from the toilet. “Guys, Sho is here!”  
“No way.”, Ren said. It was impossible for their class leader to know where they are. They had made sure that he didn’t follow them.  
“I saw him and he looks super angry.”  
There was no way to check now. They had to start the warm up and the last practise in that moment or else they would look ridiculous later. It was a gamble. “Maybe if we stay backstage for now, he will think that we don’t participate and leave before it’s our turn.” 

Yet luck wasn’t on their side because suddenly they heard Sho’s angry voice outside of their backstage room. Their class leader was arguing with someone.  
A few members of the club were curious about what was going on, so the door was opened a little. Eventually all of them gathered at the door and tried to catch what was going on.

“...Why are you so angry, Sho? That’s unlike you.” It was the grey-haired Orbit guy who talked with Sho. However, unlike their class leader he seemed to be calm.  
“Because you and the rest of your group are reopening old wounds!”  
“Sho, I thought you wanted to meet me again, too.”  
“It took you long enough. Too long, Tomo.”  
“I’m sorry, but it wasn’t possible any sooner.” From what was visible from their place, that Tomo guy seemed to be sad about the circumstances. “I wanted to follow you back then, but it wasn’t possible.” 

“But why?” Finally, Sho’s voice didn’t sound angry anymore. Instead he seemed to be equally sad.  
“They let only one person transfer back then.”  
“But couldn’t you wait and come later? Keigo and Syoya were also - “  
“Sho, really if I could have done that, I would have done it, but it was impossible.” 

Sho was about to say something when Keigo lost his balance and in turn everyone else who was following the conversation in secret also fell down. Because of the sound they made the two former friends detect them.  
“There you are!” Angry class leader Sho was back and there was no escape route in that moment.  
“Hello class leader. What’s up?”, Keigo, the culprit of the situation, tried to play cool, but it had no effect.  
“What did I tell you?” 

“To say no. But Sho, come on. That’s our chance to represent the school.” Being so close to their first performance, gave Ren enough courage to speak up in that moment.   
“But not here and not against the Orbit High.”  
“Just because you have some problem with one of them, it doesn’t mean we should have one, too.” Takumi was on Ren’s side - both physically and mentally.  
“It’s not just me. Mame, too. He cried and you forced him anyway.” 

“No, I’m here because I want to.” While Issei had looked slightly uncomfortable the whole time, the strength in his voice spoke a different language which made the dance leader glad. “I’m going to show them that I grew to be my own person.”  
“That’s what Younghoon and Yoondong are looking forward to.”, said Tomo with a smile. “Really, Sho. We don’t mean any harm. When we discovered that practise video and that event here, it seemed to be the perfect opportunity for a reunion.”  
“Still, I can’t believe you did that behind my back!” Their class leader wasn’t angry anymore, but he wasn’t happy either. 

“You should know by now that we are all delinquents who don’t like rules.”, Ren retorted. This was the reason why all of them ended up at the JO1 High, wasn't it?  
“Junki, you are vice class leader again. Ren is doing his job horribly.”  
“Finally!” Junki’s cheer was deafening which was actually worse than him losing his position. Ren hadn’t wanted to be vice class president from the beginning. 

"How did you find out anyway?" Each member of the club was curious that, but Sukai was the first one to ask.  
"There are event-posters all over the city and guess whose name is printed there?"  
"There are posters with our names? I need that." Once again S4's single brain cell made them say something at the same time and once again they weren't happy about that.

After managing to go through their choreography at least once, it was time for their appearance which luckily passed without any accidents. Junki and Sukai did well and Issei got his time to shine as their center. Overall Ren was satisfied with their performance, besides them losing in the audience vote as expected. The other team just had more experience in working together, yet they didn’t loose with a huge gap and until more important the school festival, there was enough time to improve. 

Sho stayed the whole time and bought Cola for them as a reward afterwards. “You did well.”, he said with a small apologetic smile.  
“Thank you.” Ren didn’t like Cola much, so he gave his glass to Takumi after he finished his one. “So, you and Tomo know each other from your previous school?”  
“He was my best friend.”, confessed Sho. “But when we were forced to leave the school and transfer because of some stupid fight with someone, our ways parted... I thought he had chosen that other school over me.”  
“Apparently not.” 

“And let me guess, losing your best friend made you cling to me.” To the surprise of both Ren and Sho, Ruki came along.  
“I guess so... We got along so well in the beginning.”  
“But I’m not him.”  
“You are more handsome.”  
Ruki rolled his eyes. “You are not my type, sorry. But seriously, just because you lost one friend more or less, it doesn’t mean it always happens. I don’t plan to go somewhere anytime soon, but you were just too much.” 

“I’m sorry. I was an idiot.” Sho truly seemed to be sorry and Ren was glad to witness another conflict dissolving. Less conflicts meant more time for him and Takumi.  
“Great to hear that you finally realised that.”  
“I can do something to repair our friendship?”  
“Stop being so overbearing and get me some more Cola.” The second part was obviously a joke, yet Sho ordered another glass for Ruki anyway. 

"So I am the only one from our class who is not a member of the club yet?", Sho asked eventually.  
"Well, Naoto is no member either.", Ruki replied.  
"You are always welcome to join us.", Ren added.  
"I guess I will. Someone needs to watch over your chaos." And finally, the last class member joined the club. 

That their club finally felt complete and seeing Ruki and Sho becoming friends again, made Ren happy. He wanted to hug his boyfriend in that moment, but once again Takumi had vanished somewhere. Most likely he was exhausted by the crowds, thus the blue haired one made his way backstage.  
To his surprise, he also witnessed Issei talking with his two kind of brothers on his way which was another joyful development of the day. 

Indeed, the wounds of the past had closed for them and everyone had moved on their own respective paths.  
Still, that didn’t mean that people from your old life couldn’t be a part of new one in some other way anymore. Ren had felt similar when he had met his old friends back during his trip home. His way might lead him in a different direction, but his friends stayed his friends and distance couldn’t change that. 

As expected, Takumi was sitting alone in their backstage room and he looked exhausted. “Are you alright, Takkun?”  
“Yes, don’t worry. Just too many people.” A small smile was on the red haired one's face, but Ren was worried anyway.  
“We can leave if you want.”  
“No, it’s alright. I’m sure you want to watch the other groups. Just give me some minutes to recharge.”, his boyfriend answered and signaled Ren to sit down next to him.

“Sure.” Of course, Ren followed that unspoken request and sat down next to him. "You were awesome today." Even when he hadn't been in love with Takumi yet, seeing him dance today would have made him fall in love. Thus, Ren couldn't help but to kiss him.  
“But if I can have more of this, I might want to keep you away from the other dancers.” There was a sneaky smile the red haired one's face when they parted.  
“That’s a price I’m willing to pay.” Ren could dance any day and watch other dancers at any time, but having Takumi for himself and without another problem coming up was a rare opportunity he was ready to seize.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise!  
> As promised this story continues and the fact that a new era is coming makes me want to finish that story ASAP.  
> This is the 2nd last chapter. The whole class is part of the dance club now and only 3 pasts are left undiscovered. Any guesses what's Syoya's, Keigo's and Junki's secrets are?  
> Stay tuned for the last chapter: the school festival!  
> See you~


	6. Shining Lights

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The last revelations and the school festival are coming up. For once everything goes well and Ren can actually enjoy his time.

After the dance battle, everyone had somewhat calmed down – as much as JO1 Highschool could calm down. The school festival was coming up next, thus everyone was focusing on that one. As expected, there were fights about the festival or rather their activities.  
Normally, each class and each club prepared some attraction. However, in the case of Ren’s class, each class member was also a member of the school’s dance club. Their teacher, Naoto, originally wanted them to prepare two events, however most of the students preferred to have some free time, too, and it was impossible to settle which was their second activity anyway. Some – mainly Junki and Syoya – voted to sell some food, but others – Shion and Issei - wanted to make a haunted classroom. 

To prevent any physical fights from breaking out and Syoya revealing more TMI about his relationship with Shion, it was agreed that their class would only perform a dance show at the end of the festival. In between there were smaller performances in their classroom, so that everyone would have enough time to visit the festival themselves, too. 

However, for a part of the students there was more than excitement for the festival itself. It was one of the rare chances to see their families outside of the holidays. Thus, some of the class members caried some anxiety with them. Not everyone seemed to have an equally good relationship with their parents like Ren did. His family had announced to come and his mom had even taken a few days off for it. 

On the day when they finally decided on the details for the event, the class ate lunch together. For once Takumi hadn’t dragged Ren to the roof for some time alone, instead they were sitting in their classroom and enjoyed lunch made by Junki and Sho. Their friend had become even better in cooking and somehow it had inspired their class leader to cook something for everyone, too. 

In Sho's case, the situation with Ruki surely also played a part. Everyone knew that their class prince shouldn’t be left without supervision in the kitchen, thus Sho had taken the role of taking care for him. Now, that their class leader had finally started to take his mind off the other one, everyone else was also blessed by his dishes. It was a win for each of them. 

Still, it was a little strange to see him sitting with Sukai and Issei now. The place next to Ruki was taken by Shosei and while the two weren’t official a couple yet, Ren was glad to see that his friend was on a good way to win his crush’s heart. 

“Maybe I should make something for everyone, too.” As much as Ren enjoyed the food from Junki and now from Sho, too, he felt a little guilty for not repaying that favour at least once.  
“No.” However his boyfriend didn’t seem to like that idea much.  
“Why?”  
“Because you should only cook for me.” There was it again: Takumi’s cute jealousy. 

When Ren had arrived at the school, it seemed like a dream that the cold and secretive boy he had crushed on from the very first moment could turn into such a clingy boyfriend. Each day, Takumi came out of his protective shell a little more and Ren enjoyed watching that progress. Along with that his boyfriend also became cuter. Besides cutting his hair shorter to Ren’s initial disappointment, he looked adorable and more boyish now. No one would suspect the strength of his punches with that look. 

“Just let me try. I don’t want to lose to these two.” To sooth his boyfriend, Ren placed a kiss on his cheek.  
“But you don’t make hamburger. You are only allowed to make those for me.” It was Takumi’s favourite dish and usually the one Ren prepared for him during their date nights.  
“Of course not. That’s Takkun exclusive.” Also, making this for everyone would be quite time consuming and Ren had thought about something easier anyway. 

Once more the talk shifted to the upcoming festival and whose parents would visit it.  
“Syoya, will mom come to the festival?”, Keigo suddenly asked and eight of nine other students eyed him with a confused look on their faces.  
“I don’t know yet. If your dad comes, she won’t come for sure.”, Syoya answered while disregarding all the confused looks in his and Keigo’s direction. Even his boyfriend Shion seemed to have no idea.  
“Ah I haven’t seen her in ages, but dad mentioned that he wants to come. He wants to check whether I’m not stupid anymore.” Keigo was also not caring about everyone being confused.  
“You are still stupid.”  
“I know. Just like you, little brother.” 

If that comment would have been directed to anyone but the tall black haired one, a fight would have broken out, but he didn’t care much about his academic results anyway. You didn’t need chemistry when you want to become a model was his way of thinking.   
Syoya wasn’t the brightest lamp either, but that was mainly due the fact that he rather fooled around and Shion’s bad influence.  
Yet the most surprising part was Keigo calling him his little brother. 

“You two are brothers?” Especially Syoya’s boyfriend, Shion, seemed confused about that revelation. He was making out with Syoya for months, but he was never told that Syoya’s brother was in their class.  
“Half-brothers actually. We have the same mother.”, the shorter one explained.  
“You didn’t know that?” Sho seemed to be the only one besides the brothers who wasn’t confused about the news.  
“No? No one told us?”, replied Junki. He was Keigo’s best friend, yet he didn’t know that until now, too. 

“Yes, Naoto mentioned that when Syoya was transferred to the class but I guess all of you slept once again.”, explained Sho. In every other school that scenario would have been unlikely, yet in their class it was more than likely. No one ever listened to their teacher.

Also, the whole thing made Ren wonder about their age range once again. Already during his first day he had noticed that it was quite divers. Syoya and Keigo for example were two years apart but still in the same class. While the older brother was quite stupid, he was same age as Junki who was smart and in their class, too. It made no sense at all but here they were. 

“I knew your dad was some quite famous business man with a lot of mistresses, so I expected you to share the same dad.” It was quite surprising that Issei “I know every dirt from your past” Mamehara also didn’t know the truth either.  
“Yeah, Mom had enough and left him after she found it out. But since I am the successor of the company...”  
“You used to be the successor.”, corrected Junki his friend. 

“Yes, I got myself out of that by being stupid. Best thing I’ve ever did.” The tall one seemed quite proud of that achievement.  
“Anyway, we have the same mother but I was born in her second marriage and she hates her ex-husband. Keigo and me went to the same school in our hometown already and you should have seen her face when she saw them again.”, explained the younger brother.  
“She was ready to kill someone.”  
“She was ready to kill your dad.”  
“And I wouldn’t mind that.” It was obvious that Keigo didn’t like his father much. 

“So, how did you two end up here?”, asked Shosei who was also following the story like it was a good movie.  
“Well, obviously I did everything to lose my successor position. I failed all tests, skipped classes and such things.”, explained Keigo.  
“Was it that bad?” As far as everyone knew Ruki was also some kind of successor for a wealthy family, but he didn’t seem to struggle with that status.  
“Yes. I’m not the type for this world. All the pressure... I want an easy life.” The smile that usually graced Keigo’s face disappeared. “All the behaviour rules since I was a kid. I couldn’t choose anything freely. No hobbies, no friends.” 

Seeing the always happy Keigo being sad, made both Junki and Takumi hug him. It was rare that the red haired one displayed public affection for anyone but Ren, so for a second, he also felt some jealousy. Yet it was Keigo’s moment right now and he seemed to need it.  
“And you Syoya?”, asked Sukai who looked as uninterested as always but seemed to follow the story anyway. 

“Well, when I discovered I have an older brother, that was so cool. So, when he left the school, I wanted to follow him. Actually, it was quite easy to make them transfer me here. I only needed to flood the school toilets twice.”  
“But if you are so close with Keigo, why didn’t I know about this?” A valid question from Shion. He and Syoya were glued to each other 24/7 with the exemption of the short break-up they had shortly after Ren’s arrival. 

“Well... Your lips are quite distracting and you don’t like me talking about the others.”  
“Are you calling me jealous?” It was typical for Shion that he only listened to half of the sentence and naturally it was the half that made him mad in some way.  
“Shion, you wanted to punch me for going to the arcade with Syoya.” Ren still remembered that day. He had just wanted to cheer up the black haired one.  
“It looked like you two had a date!”  
“Shion, calm down.” Once again Sho was the voice of reason. But there was also some sadness visible on their class leader’s face. Hearing that someone had it easy to follow someone important must be still painful for him. 

However, before more fighting erupted because no one but Ren - and maybe also Sho to an extend - ever listened fully to the stories of their classmates the bell rang and the classes for the day continued.  
The rest of the day was uneventful and after they finished the dance practise each of the students returned to the dorm. Like most of the time, Ren went together with Takumi, Junki and Keigo. Besides the brothers being close in some way, Syoya had left with Shion once again – most likely to tame his irritation. 

“I can’t believe I know everyone’s story now.” Looking back on the recent discoveries made Ren realise that fact. Not even his first year had passed at that school and he knew more of his class than of his whole middle school class who he had spent three years with.  
“Only because you had to dig out mine.” As always Takumi wasn’t that impressed about that.  
“Ah come on, Takkun. It was good. You are happier now.” 

For a moment it looked like Takumi wanted to argue back, but then he seemed to realise that his boyfriend was right. “but the rest...”  
“Syoya looked pitiful and the rest just happened.” He kept wondering himself, too, how it came to this. When he arrived at the school, he had other plans. Falling for Takumi had been unexpected already. 

“Okay Keigo was really unexpected today.”, added Junki. “i mean I knew that you hate your dad, but that Syoya is your little brother... Why did you never tell me?” He was still sulking that he only got to know that information that day.  
“I thought you listened to Naoto back then!”  
“Who listens to Naoto anyway?” A valid answer for sure. The usual attention span in their class wasn’t long. 

“Makes me wonder. How much did you catch when I arrived here?”, Ren asked.  
“You arrived and your name is Ren.”, Keigo said.  
“And you are from Fukuoka.”, added Takumi.  
“Strawberry, you were with me in Fukuoka. I would be disappointed if you forgot that.” Only recently, Ren had started to use that nickname to tease his boyfriend. His red hair and his face when he blushed reminded the blue haired one of a strawberry. 

Naturally, his friends didn’t leave that without a comment. “Awww, you call Takumi Strawberry? What a cute nickname.”  
“But isn’t he like more a Strawberry shortcake?” However, the 11 centimetres that Keigo was taller than Takumi didn’t help in the moment because an angry Strawberry punched him against the shoulders.  
“Don’t call me short.”  
“Pocket sized?” 

And that was the moment Takumi got angry for real and Keigo had to use his long legs to run away, so that he wouldn’t be murdered by his friend.  
“You think he will survive?”, Junki asked jokingly.  
However, the friends preferred to enjoy the spectacle with a grin. It was Keigo’s own fault anyway. 

“Wait a second...” The other blue haired student said. “Did I ever tell you my story?”  
Now that he mentioned it, Ren realised that Junki was the only one whose story he didn’t know yet. “Do you want it to tell me yourself or should I ask Mame for the tea?”  
“Actually - “ Yet before Junki could answer, they heard Keigo’s scream and they went to check what happened. 

Eventually, everyone reached the dorm in one piece and Ren surely didn’t mind that Takumi needed to be spoiled to calm down – he loved doing that anyway. The only downside was that it happened in his room and it involved him doing his boyfriend’s homework while said boyfriend was laying with his head on his lap. Still, Ren loved those moments of just the two of them. It had a special atmosphere and the tension he felt was different from the one he felt during class or during dancing. 

Normally, Ren was someone who could read people well and knew what to expect from them. Yet even after months, he couldn’t read Takumi and he never knew what the other one would do next. For example, that he still wasn’t allowed into his room was a part of that. The red haired one preferred to come over to his one and naturally Ren enjoyed their couple time no matter the place, but he was curious about the other one’s room. 

Also, Takumi often did things unexpectedly. Just like in this moment when he suddenly started to tuck Ren’s shirt to signal him to stop writing.  
“What’s wrong?”, Ren asked but Takumi didn’t say anything. Instead he pulled Ren down to him and started to kiss him softly. The blue haired one couldn’t help but smile into the kiss. This was much better than homework anyway. 

In the end the homework was left unfinished, but Takumi stayed the night in Ren’s room. Besides everything going well and Ren not being involved with someone else’s problems, his boyfriend was clingy which made him worried in some way. 

“Takkun, are you alright?” They had to get up soon or otherwise they would be late to class, yet having Takumi in his arms made getting up difficult even for Ren.  
“I am.” might have been his words, but his actions spoke a different language because the red haired one snuggled closer to his boyfriend.  
“You know that you can tell me your worries. I will listen.” A few days ago, Takumi had removed the braids in his hair. At first, Ren had been a little disappointed, yet he had grown to like going through the other one’s hair. Takumi seemed to like it, too, because Ren could feel some tension leaving the body of the person in his arms. 

“I know... It’s just... It feels so unreal.” Softly, as if he expected the other one to vanish under his touch, Takumi started to caress Ren’s face. “I can’t believe that everything is real. That you are real. That I am happy here. This is so unlikely. After everything that happened, I thought I would never be happy again. But thanks to you, I am happy now.”  
“It’s destiny. We were meant to meet.” From time to time Ren also felt like everything that had happened so far couldn’t be real, but he was someone who strongly believed in destiny. Destiny was the thing that brought him to JO1 High and Takumi into his arms. 

“If we are meant to be, will you find me again if I wake up?”  
“I will always find you.” In this moment Ren didn’t believe it was a dream, too real were the feelings he was having right now. Moreover, even if it was a dream, he would find Takumi again. They were destined to be together. He knew that. It was nothing but a feeling, yet everything related to the red haired one felt more real than anything else in his life - excluding dancing of course. 

Ultimately, the two missed the first two classes of the day. When they arrived, a few of their classmates had to made some suggestive comments, yet one angry look into Keigo’s direction made at least him shut up. Ren guessed that Takumi must have given him a lesson the day before.  
There was some scolding from Naoto, but their teacher seemed to be happy that they decided to show up and brought at least some of their homework with them. Thus, the usual chaos at JO1 High continued. 

The weeks passed which meant that the school festival finally approached. To say that Ren was excited was an understatement. Since the dance club was formed, he looked forward to their performance and worked hard on it. He never expected his whole class to join, however he could feel their bonds deepening thanks to this. Even the members who never danced before were presentable now and he was proud of himself and everyone else because of that accomplishment. 

He was especially excited that his family would come. Last time he had seen his younger brother Rao he had injures all over his body, so seeing the youngest happy and healthy once again was another highlight he looked forward, too. Furthermore, he was delighted that he would be able to introduce Takumi as his boyfriend this time. His mother and friends had suspected that already back during their visit, but finally it was official. 

Sadly, Takumi’s family wouldn’t visit the festival. After the incident at his former school and him giving up baseball, their relationship hadn’t been fixed yet, but as Ren knew his family, his boyfriend was adopted by them already – if he wanted or not. Still, he would have liked to meet his boyfriend’s family, too.   
A few more parents of their classmates didn’t want to come – Sukai's and Shosei’s parents were too busy, but their sisters had announced their visit to Keigo’s joy who planned to flirt with them. Both Sho’s and Ruki’s parents were abroad, so they wouldn’t come either. 

What everyone was the most curious about was naturally the showdown between Keigo’s and Syoya’s mother and her ex-husband. Especially Issei was ready for new tea – it had been too long without any new drama.  
Ren was also somewhat curious about Junki’s parents. He still had no idea how he had ended up at their school because so far, he seemed one of the sane people among them. Still, during his introduction it was mentioned that he had skipped school a lot. 

Takumi spend the night of the festival in his room again and Ren was glad about that. The excitement made it hard for him to fall asleep, but Takumi’s presence comforted him enough that he found sleep eventually. Still, the next morning he was up early and they were one of the first students to arrive for the festival. 

The students had managed to schedule their performance as the last performance of the day – the highlight.  
It felt like their first achievement and it also meant that everyone had enough time to explore the festival themselves and show it to their families.  
Takumi decided to tag along with Ren and his family and if someone else had seen them, it was impossible to see that the boys were a couple since a few months and that brothers didn’t know the red-haired boy since years. 

As predicted the family reunion of Syoya’s and Keigo’s family was a mess. Yet it was that kind of mess that most of the class followed with a bunch of snacks from a safe distance. Sho tried to scold them for that, yet the guys from the Orbit High had come, too, and Sho’s former or still best friend told him to let them be. That guy was a blessing in the student’s eyes.

The festival had its cute moments, too. One of them was surely Ruki's and Shosei's first kiss which somehow happened in front of everyone. Ren was glad to see his first friend finally getting his happy end and the two of them simply looked adorable together - like two princes from a Disney movie. 

Despite all the families arriving and having fun, Junki or people looking like him were nowhere to be seen. After some time, Ren became worried, thus he started to search for his friend. It took a while, but Ren found him all alone at the soccer field, kicking some balls into the empty goals.  
“Junki, why are you not with everyone else?”  
“I’m not in the mood.” It was maybe the first time since Ren’s arrival that Junki sounded sad.  
“Why? Because your parents didn’t come?” His friend just nodded. “Do you know why?” 

“Because they don’t want to see someone who is responsible for crippling his older brother.”  
The way Junki said that didn’t let Ren doubt the truth of the statement, yet it didn’t feel right. His friend was one of the kindest and smartest people he knew. “Crippling your brother? How?”  
“It’s pretty similar to what happened to your younger brother, but the difference is that my brother didn’t recover fully and it’s my fault. We were sitting on the roof and I thought it was funny to scare him. Yet he felt down the roof and his foot was crippled. After that... nothing was the same. Everyone blamed me for this and they were right.” 

“It was an accident.” Aside those news, Ren’s image of his friend hadn’t changed. Junki was someone kind-hearted and from the first day Ren had arrived at that school, he had made him feel welcome.  
“And still my fault. Everywhere I went, I was the one who crippled his brother. In school, in my team, at home... When I got the news that they will transfer me to this school, it seemed like my best chance in life.”  
“Maybe it was your fault, but it was an accident.” 

“Thank you for saying this besides me being a monster.” Junki still looked crushed and Ren was determined to bring his happy self back. It was supposed to be a happy day for everyone.  
“You are not a monster. You are sorry for this, right?”  
“Of course, I am.” 

“See? Then you are not a monster and everyone in our class will agree. You are our friend and that won’t change. We all have our dark times in our pasts but we are here to start anew and path our own ways.” Already some time ago Ren had come to this realisation. There was some reason why there were transferred to that school which was far away from their previous lifes. It was their chances to start anew and discover their true path in life – not the one society wanted for them, but the one which was their destiny.  
“You think so?”  
“Of course. I can’t be friends with someone who doesn’t have a kind heart and you have one.” 

A little longer they stayed together without saying anything, but eventually Junki raised his fist and shouted: “Let’s raise the tension! We will set the stage on fire later!”  
“That’s the Junki I know.” Ren was glad that his friend seemed to be over that dark episode. “Call your family later. Me and everyone else will tell them that you are actually a good guy.”  
“The best guy.” 

When they returned back to the festival it was time for the rehearsal and sooner than they expected the festival neared its final moments. Some members were nervous before their performance, but once again Ren felt nothing but excitement. It was their time to shine now. So, when the lights of the stages went dark and the first notes of the song started to play, eleven stars illuminated the night. 

After their performance they were met with praise from everyone who watched it and even their rivals from the Orbit High applauded to them. It felt good and for a lot of them it was the first time they felt appreciated in their lifes. Finally, they were not misfits who didn’t fit into society anymore, but eleven individual shining lights. 

Still, it wouldn’t be the JO1 High if there wasn’t some weird surprise waiting for them. After the festival ended Naoto called them together because he had some kind of announcement.  
“First of all, congratulations to your performance. You’ve outdone yourselves.” Each boy grinned widely at this praise. They might annoy their teacher quite often, but they liked him and his praise meant a lot of them, too. “Now to the announcement. The school council decided that you all will graduate in spring, so if you plan to advance to university, you should start studying for the entrance exams now.” 

The announcement was some kind of shock for everyone. Some of them weren’t in the age to graduate from a highschool yet and all of them hadn’t even thought about their future yet. Each of them had enjoyed living in the present and enjoying their lifes for once. Yet deep in their minds, they knew that their youth wouldn’t last forever. Still, the time at this school had given them the opportunity to find their true selves and a future. 

After delivering the news to his family who were also delighted to hear them, Ren returned to the dorm together with his friends. He expected Takumi to return to his room, because the day seemed to have exhausted him, yet when the blue haired one wanted to make his way to his own room, Takumi dragged him to his one. It was the first time he was allowed to enter it which made the day even more special. 

Obliviously, there was something on the mind of the shorter one, but Ren wanted to give him time.  
“Ren, even when we graduate, will you stay with me?” Takumi asked after some time had been passed in silence.  
“Of course.”  
“So, you stay with me even in the real world?”  
“I will stay by your side as long as you want me to stay. I love you, Takumi, and that won’t change when we graduate.” Ren wondered whether the past betrayal made his boyfriend was that insecure. That Takumi was able to trust and love him by now made him glad and he wanted to help him in learning to do the same with the rest of the world.  
“I love you too. Thank you for coming to my life.” 

As much as Ren initially hated the transfer, it was the best thing that had happened in his life. He was able to grow, to find new friends and the love of his life. Maybe all of them were crazy misfits but each one of his classmates was an amazing person with an amazing talent. He was happy that they came together and helped each other growing and finding their way.  
There was a bright future for each of them and he was sure that he would share his one with the boy he was kissing in this moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally!  
> The last chapter of So what is here.  
> Sorry for the two month hiatus, but besides plotting the chapters I somehow didn't manage to write everything.  
> I hope you liked the story~  
> I will upload an epilogue later because I'm sure you all want to know what the guys do in their futures ;)  
> See you~


	7. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After five years the class meets again and there are happy news to share!

“Reeeen, hurry up or we will be too late.”  
“But I can’t find any white socks.”  
“You can wear another colour for once.”  
Besides knowing about Ren’s habit of wearing white socks since their shared Highschool years, Takumi couldn’t help but feel annoyed.  
After five years they would finally see their classmates from JO1 High again but Ren only cared about the colour of his socks. It was hilarious and annoying at the same time. 

Technically it wasn’t the first time they met everyone. From time to time they met some of their classmates, but it was the first time since their graduation that everyone would be in the same room again. It felt special and thus, they had prepared something appropriate for this occasion. 

“But Takkun. White socks are part of my identity.” They were ready for departure and only Ren’s socks were missing. It took some effort from Takumi to make his boyfriend to accept to wear some black socks that he also owned but never wore, but the whole time he complained that it felt weird for him - because he had always worn white socks since he started dancing.

However, to Takumi’s surprise they weren’t the last ones to arrive. While the reliable members of their former class - Sho, Junki, Ruki and Shosei – had arrived already, other classmates arrived after the couple. But no one said anything - it was a part of their charm. It wouldn’t be them if some of them didn’t keep their chaotic traits.  
After all it was Keigo who arrived as the last one, but he had an excuse. His flight had been delayed. 

“So that everyone is here now, who wants to start telling us what they are up to?”, asked Ren. Sho used to be their class leader, but it was somehow always the dancer who dug out everyone’s past sooner or later. Hence, it felt fitting for him to ask everyone about their lifes.  
Also, in theory they knew about each other lifes in one way or another, but it felt right for him to ask. Especially since he and his boyfriend had a surprise for everyone later. 

“Well as you know, I just returned from the fashion week in Paris. The souvenirs for you guys are in my suitcase.” Keigo was the first one to answer with a big grinning. As he had announced already back during their highschool days, he had persuaded a career as a model and he was quite successful. His father still didn’t like his path, but the tall one was happy away. He was living for himself now.

“Please don’t say that you brought mashed macarons again like last time.”, complained Junki. “I felt sorry for the poor food.” Besides Keigo traveling all over the world, he and Junki had stayed to be best friends. Once they were in the same country once more, they were glued together just like five years ago.  
“I just wanted to give you a challenge. You are good in putting stuff back together.”  
“Yes, bones, but not macarons. There is a huge difference between those things.”

To everyone’s surprise Junki had decided to become a doctor after graduation. Everyone had assumed he would aim to become a professional soccer player or chef, yet he wanted to correct his past mistake himself and started to study medicine with a focus on becoming a surgeon. It was no easy path but he seemed to be happy and determined. He couldn’t fix his brother’s foot yet, but he was on a good way to be able to do the operation one day.

“And no cheap plunder please. Otherwise I will just fly to Paris myself and get something myself.”  
“Don’t act so entitled, Ruki! I don’t see you working hard.”, retorted Keigo. “What’s your job even?”  
“I’m a full-time rich heir, part time musician and part time sugar daddy for my purin, Shosei. As you can see, I’m quite busy.”  
Shosei, meanwhile, blushed in a deep shade of red because of his boyfriend’s statement. “Rukkun, don’t say it like that.”

“What? It’s the truth. I bought you the dance studio.”  
“And I told you not to.”  
“Because you wanted to rent it. That’s stupid.” Just like Ren and Takumi, Shosei and Ruki were also still a couple. The blonde one had followed his boyfriend to Tokyo and started to work as a dancer. After some time, he decided to share his love for dancing and opened a dance studio. There he taught his moves to children and everyone else who was interested in the world of dancing. Thanks to Ruki he didn’t have to worry about money while doing so and he was able to focus himself on his passion, yet he felt better to earn his own salary – even when his boyfriend protested. 

“And I thought you were a full-time musician, Ruki. Didn’t you and Sho reach the first place in Oricon with your new single?”  
“Thank you, Junki, and yes we did. And none of you idiots congratulated us for that.”  
“I did it, honey.”  
“You don’t count, baby.”

Sometime after their graduation Ruki had grown a little bored of his wealth, so he had picked up music once more. On the other hand, Sho had been active as a solo artist since the graduation already, but eventually the two decided to form a duo. Their combined voices and visuals gained them a lot of fans and recently the general public had taken a liking to them, too. Thus, they were the perfect example of the power their former school had. It turned misfits into shining stars.

“Actually, we didn’t ignore it. We have prepared a surprise for you today.” De facto, there had been some class members who hadn’t noticed that achievement, but luckily Sukai had reminded everyone before the meeting and offered to get a cake for them which was presented now.  
It was a huge chocolate coffee cake that was big enough to feed all eleven former classmates and on the top there was written “Congrats on placing first!”. It looked both delicious and ornamental. 

Of course, the two musicians got the first pieces and especially Sho seemed to enjoy the taste of it. “Did you make it yourself Sukai?”  
“No way. I can’t bake.”, he said with a chuckle. “But it’s from the bakery of the family of one of my students.”  
“Eh you are a teacher?” For the first time in the last five years, S4’s shared braincell activated itself and made three of four guys speak at the same time once again. Besides the nostalgic feeling it had for each of them, Shion looked like he wanted to murder someone for that – just like back in the days.

“Yes, after seeing what Naoto did for us and how much our previous teachers failed us, I thought I should be a role model for kids. But I’m not teaching high school kids, but elementary school children. They are easier to handle.”, explained Sukai with a smile.   
They had given their teacher a hard time more than once, yet without him they wouldn’t be where they were today, thus each one of them still respected him a lot. 

“Wow, now I really feel bad about not doing anything useful with my life.”, said Shion.  
“Shion, you are an actor.” While it was obvious for two of the three high school couples that they were still in love with each other like on the first day, Shion and Syoya were another story. At least three times a year it they broke up, but after a short time they made up again. Takumi had stopped trying to understand their relationship.

“For cringy teen movies. That’s not even work.” However, Shion was quite successful with those movies. Just on the way to the reunion Ren and Takumi had seen one of the billboards for his upcoming movie.  
“True. You just have to be yourself.”, replied Syoya with a smirk.   
“At least I can wear better clothes than the ones you design.”  
“So that’s why you can never wait to undress me?” Apart from their sometimes unclear relationship status, Syoya and Shion hadn’t changed much. They still dropped TMI about their relationship from time to time.

After the graduation Syoya had followed the path of a fashion designer. Having a model as his older brother and a famous actor as his boyfriend had surely helped to make his brand known to the world. Luckily, as his friends everyone got some free samples from time to time.  
For example, the shirt that Issei wore on this day was one that his former classmate had designed. The designer had been delighted when he saw his friend wearing it. It was one thing when people or celebrities wore your stuff but another one when your friends did it.

Speaking of Issei, their youngest hadn’t said much so far. As always, he seemed to observe everyone until he got the chance to drop some tea.  
“So Mame, what are you up to? Are you still digging out everyone’s secrets?” Just like everyone else their former leader Sho still used the old nickname for the youngest. He had grown into a fine man, but he stayed everyone’s favourite (annoying) little brother.  
“Well kinda. I’m a scout for a talent agency. They said I have a good feeling for people, so I’m searching the right people for my agency.”

In fact, Takumi had expected their youngest to become a police officer or a private investigator after graduation, yet the scouting job also fit to him in some way. Thanks to his boyfriend he had known about Issei’s job for some time, because their youngest had scouted some people from Shosei’s and Ren’s dance studio recently.

In fact, each one of them had found a profession that was perfect for them and made their lights to continue shining – including himself and Ren.  
“Too bad that you are scouting in the music industry and not in the sports one. I know some kids that are talented enough to become pros.” Ultimately Takumi was the only one of them who had ended up working in a sports related field. All of them had done some kind of sport during their school times, yet at last it stayed nothing but a hobby for everyone else. Only he had chosen something which was connected to sport.

After their graduation Takumi had followed Ren to Fukuoka. The relationship with his own family still wasn’t the best, but the Kawashiri family welcomed him with open arms. While Ren had started to work as a dance instructor in the youth center he used to visit as a child, Takumi had taken up a staff job for the local baseball team. His background as a former player helped a lot and after a short time he was promoted to the spokesperson for the team.

However, when Shosei had opened his dance studio, he had asked Ren whether he wanted to join and the now silver haired dancer agreed to move to Tokyo. The area he had grown up at was a better place finally, so he was ready to go to the big city and share his love for dancing with more people.  
On the other hand, it caused some tension in the relationship of Takumi and Ren. The promotion had happened only a short time ago and Takumi had finally started to enjoy the sport again that was part of his life before disasters entered it.  
Not wanting that anyone had to sacrifice their dream of the other one made Ren suggest a long distance relationship initially.

However, Takumi had a different idea about their future, so he decided to follow his boyfriend to the capital. Ren was the person that made him feel safe and confident and while he was thankful for the other one’s considerate thoughts, he decided that he wanted to stay by his side. Other people might see him as a puppy who couldn’t live without his human, but it was Takumi’s own decision to follow him. It felt right to do so. 

In one way Ren was delighted about the news, but at the same time he started to doubt himself and didn’t want his boyfriend to throw away his job. Ren felt like he was a too big presence in Takumi’s life who took away his freedom. All he wanted was to help his boyfriend in overcoming his trauma. He didn’t want him to become depended on him.   
Thus, their first big fight broke out before the move happened. They were both too stubborn and thought they were doing the best for the other one and only after weeks they realised that they were doing the exact opposite – instead of making the other one happy, they’ve hurt each other. 

In the end Takumi managed to convince his boyfriend that he was happily following him to Tokyo. Pretty soon he got a job as a journalist for a sports magazine which he enjoyed and the dancer finally stopped worrying that he forced his love to do something.  
On the weekends Takumi helped to train the kids of the local baseball club, thus the connection with his favourite sport stayed, too. 

Each day they spend together proofed to Takumi that he made the right decision in following the man he loved. For some reason the big city reminded him of their school times. There was no quiet day and the chaos made him enjoy the time with his boyfriend even more. 

“I’m sorry Mr. sport reporter.”, Obviously, Issei wasn’t sorry at all. His grin was as wide as if he had just uncovered some new drama that carried the potential to stir some chaos. “But why do you keep touching the ring on your left hand? Is there something you guys want to tell us?”  
Even to this day it was impossible to hide something from him. Originally, Ren and Takumi had wanted to wait a little longer with the announcement, but it seemed like they were caught already. Not ready to do the revelation alone now, the shorter one looked at his beloved who unlike him didn’t seem to mind that Issei had uncovered their little secret earlier than expected. 

“Well, it’s been 5 years since we were all together in the same room, but I don’t want to wait that long for another reunion. Because I invite all of you to mine and Takumi’s wedding now.” Ren was barely able to finish the sentence before the cheers erupted and everyone congratulated them. 

JO1 High was the place each one of them had found their path for the future and their happiness. Especially Ren and Takumi were delighted that destiny had brought them together at this place. But it was more than this. They had also found nine crazy and awesome friends who they didn’t want to miss in their lifes anymore.  
Their transfer might have been their darkest moment on the first glance, but eventually it was the catalyst to make their stars shine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!  
> This epilogue is shorter than the other chapters but I really wanted to add this reunion and their future paths somehow.  
> I hope you like this end & please leave your thoughts about this story.  
> See you~

**Author's Note:**

> Haisai!  
> The concept pics dropped today so of course I had to write something. Especially because my love Yankumi decided to return <3  
> (No, don't worry I won't oshihen, but I'm whipped for Yankumi since I saw prepdjp pics of him)  
> I hope you enjoyed this story!  
> Once more I have no idea how long it will be but with while this chapter could have been an OS, I feel like there are many more possibilities in the future, so I would like to keep it open for future ones.  
> See ya~


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